During this one-on-one interview, a part of the Oncology Stakeholders Summit, Spring 2015 series, Richard W. Joseph, MD, notes that the armamentarium of agents for the treatment of cancers such as metastatic melanoma is growing. Dr Joseph also explains the rationale for getting patients with melanoma on immunotherapy.
Dr Joseph, an assistant professor in the division of medical oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, discusses the difference in treatment outcomes for immunotherapies versus targeted therapies and explains that while targeted therapies and immunotherapies are both main options in metastatic melanoma, most medical oncologists prefer to treat their patients with immunotherapy.
“Immunotherapies are the only therapies that are going to cause long, durable remissions,” he says.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of data, healthcare professionals do not have much guidance on whether to begin treatment with immunotherapy or a targeted therapy, explains Dr Joseph. Currently, clinicians make treatment decisions based on disease severity. Patients with less symptomatic disease start with immunotherapy, whereas patients with bulky disease start with a targeted agent, then transition to immunotherapy.
Dr Joseph further discusses the potential of immunotherapy in the treatment of bulky disease, and expressed the hope that newer agents that work more rapidly, and the use of combination therapy, may be more effective in treating bulky disease.
Real-World Data Support Luspatercept vs ESAs for Anemia in Lower-Risk MDS
June 5th 2025Patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who received luspatercept showed greater hemoglobin gains and transfusion independence compared with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in a real-world analysis.
Read More
At EHA 2025, Hematology Discussions Will Stretch Across Lifespans and Locations
June 5th 2025The 2025 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress, convening virtually and in Milan, Italy, from June 12 to June 15, 2025, will feature a revamped program structure for the meeting’s 30th anniversary while maintaining ample opportunities to network, debate, and absorb practice-changing findings in hematology and oncology.
Read More
Laundromats as a New Frontier in Community Health, Medicaid Outreach
May 29th 2025Lindsey Leininger, PhD, and Allister Chang, MPA, highlight the potential of laundromats as accessible, community-based settings to support Medicaid outreach, foster trust, and connect families with essential health and social services.
Listen
Use of Voluntary Alignment in the Next Generation ACO Model
June 5th 2025Use of voluntary alignment attribution by Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) participants was limited. The authors highlight the reasons and describe organizational use cases via a mixed-methods approach.
Read More