Keeping Cancer in "Check"

In this issue of ONCOLOGY®, we spoke with Mario Sznol, MD, a professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center, about the rapidly expanding role of immunotherapy, and about future directions in the immuno-oncology field.

“The field is in transition,” says Sznol of the recent developments and trends in immuno-oncology. “An enormous number of promising new agents are coming out.”

“But we are only looking at a small fraction of the big world of things that can be done,” Sznol adds when discussing the potential future of immuno-oncology. “I think what we’re lacking now is just the biomarkers.”

For this month’s clinical quandary, you will read about disorders of sex development and malignant germ cell tumors. What are the keys to making a correct diagnosis? And what is the most relevant and effective treatment? Read on to find out.

Also in this issue, you will read an original research article from Rachael Galvin, DO, MPH, and colleagues about barriers to clinical trial enrollment in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. With early-phase clinical trials being so critical to the development of newer and more effective therapeutics, why are so many eligible patients electing not to participate? Galvin and her coauthors share the results of their study, along with some conclusions on how to overcome these barriers.

Within these pages, you will also read a review of strategies to optimize axillary surgery in patients with breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant endocrine therapy and considerations for the management of oncology patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, written from the experience of Marc Braunstein, MD, PhD, and his colleagues at New York University (NYU) Long Island School of Medicine and NYU Winthrop Hospital.

I hope you find our journal helpful in caring for your patients through what is likely one of the most challenging times in their lives. As always, thank you for reading.