Expert Interviews

“Food is powerful, and [patients] need fuel,” said Claudia Aguilar Clancy, RN, FNP-C, about ensuring patients receive the nutrition they require during cancer treatment.

Panelists discuss how recognizing the diagnostic challenges of epithelioid sarcoma—including its histologic overlap with other conditions and the importance of INI1 loss as a key marker—can improve early detection and reduce misdiagnosis of this rare and aggressive tumor.

Panelists discuss how PSMA PET imaging identified a region of high tracer uptake, guiding medical professionals to implement a focal radiation boost. This approach improved treatment precision and targeting of aggressive areas, highlighting the potential for personalized, effective therapies.

Panelists discuss how targeted cancer therapies, particularly those affecting the EGFR and c-MET receptors, present unique adverse effects such as dermatologic reactions and venous thromboembolism, emphasizing the importance of proactive management, patient education, and evolving treatment strategies to balance efficacy with quality of life.

Panelists discuss how intracranial progression-free survival (PFS) and duration of response (DoR) influence treatment decisions, highlighting the significance of intracranial data in differentiating this regimen within the treatment landscape, its potential impact on brain metastases management, and the role of radiation therapy in clinical practice.

Panelists discuss how a comprehensive diagnostic approach—including advanced imaging, biopsy with immunohistochemistry for INI1 loss, and multidisciplinary evaluation—supports accurate diagnosis and staging of suspected epithelioid sarcoma (ES) while guiding personalized treatment planning.

Suzanne Mahon, DNS, RN, AOCN, AGN-BC, FAAN, stated that it is important to consider a patient’s family medical history when considering genetic counseling.

Panelists discuss how PSMA PET imaging has significantly influenced prostate cancer management by enabling precise detection of metastatic lesions, thereby informing and altering treatment strategies. For instance, a study demonstrated that ^68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT impacted definitive radiation therapy (RT) planning in 16.5% of patients, leading to modifications in RT fields based on the imaging findings.

A study aimed to determine the variables that correlated with extravasation rates in patients receiving radiation injection therapy.

Panelists discuss how the addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors to first-line chemotherapy has transformed the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, improving survival while highlighting ongoing challenges in managing relapse and the need for continued research into novel therapies.

Panelists discuss how distinguishing between limited-stage and extensive-stage small cell lung cancer is essential for guiding treatment strategies, accurately staging disease, and setting appropriate expectations for prognosis and therapeutic outcomes.

The NETRF lends funding to help discover new and emerging treatment options in neuroendocrine tumors, according to Anna Greene, PhD.

Anna Greene, PhD, spoke about how this under-studied disease needs increased funding and more awareness.

Panelists discuss how the COCOON trial demonstrated that enhanced dermatologic management significantly reduced grade 2 or higher skin-related adverse events (38% vs 76%) compared with standard of care for patients receiving amivantamab plus lazertinib.

Panelists discuss how amivantamab plus lazertinib therapy for EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer has shown promising survival data while highlighting the importance of managing adverse events for improved quality of life.

Extravasation with beta emitters may elicit more drastic adverse effects due to their higher radiation dose.

Increasing the use of patient-reported outcomes may ensure that practitioners can fully ascertain the impact of treatment for rare lymphomas.

Photographic and written documentation can help providers recognize inflammatory breast cancer symptoms across diverse populations.

The use of guideline-concordant care in breast cancer appears to be more common in White populations than Black populations.

Panelists discuss how rebiopsy and CD20 reassessment at suspected progression of follicular lymphoma after second-line therapy are critical for detecting histologic transformation, evaluating changes in disease biology, and informing the selection of appropriate third-line treatment strategies.