OncLive® On Air

Two Onc Docs, hosted by Samantha A. Armstrong, MD, and Karine Tawagi, MD, is a podcast dedicated to providing current and future oncologists and hematologists with the knowledge they need to ace their boards and deliver quality patient care. Dr Armstrong is a hematologist/oncologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. Dr Tawagi is a hematologist/oncologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
In this episode, OncLive On Air® partnered with Two Onc Docs to deliver a comprehensive, board-focused review of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) diagnosis and management for 2026, reflecting the rapidly expanding treatment landscape that is growing to include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted agents.
The discussion began with molecular workup, emphasizing the importance of conducting upfront multigene next-generation sequencing plus PD-L1 testing by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for all nonsquamous disease, with HER2 and c-MET IHC now part of routine evaluation. Drs Armstrong and Tawagi stressed that circulating tumor DNA complements but does not replace tissue biospy, and that a targetable driver generally prompts the initiation of first-line targeted therapy, except in the case of KRAS G12C and NRG1 fusions.
Regarding EGFR-mutated disease, they reviewed 3 category 1 first-line options: osimertinib (Tagrisso) monotherapy, osimertinib plus chemotherapy, and amivantamab (Rybrevant) plus lazertinib (Lazcluze), cautioning against overlapping immunotherapy. They detailed post-osimertinib resistance testing and EGFR exon 20 insertions, then addressed ALK, ROS1, BRAF V600E, RET, MET exon 14, NTRK, and NRG1 alterations, noting preferred agents and characteristic toxicities, such as lorlatinib (Lorbrena)–associated hyperlipidemia.
Drs Armstrong and Tawagi also covered HER2-directed therapies, including fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu), as well as antibody-drug conjugates for EGFR-mutated and c-MET–high disease. For driver-negative disease, they stratified first-line therapy by PD-L1 status and histology, discussing immunotherapy monotherapy, chemoimmunotherapy, and dual checkpoint blockade, before reviewing second-line options for patients with or without prior immunotherapy.

In this episode of Oncology Unplugged, host Chandler Park, MD, a medical oncologist at Norton Cancer Institute in Louisville, Kentucky, was joined by Joshua Brody, MD, the director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center and a faculty member of the Icahn Genomics Institute in New York, New York.
Their discussion centered on the evolving frontline and relapsed treatment landscape in Hodgkin lymphoma, highlighting the field’s decades-long shift away from intensive chemotherapy and radiation toward better-tolerated, biologically targeted regimens. Drs Park and Brody framed Hodgkin lymphoma as a rare success story in oncology, noting that a once-uniformly fatal disease is now curable in more than 90% of patients, and emphasized that the modern treatment goal has moved from maximizing efficacy at any cost to preserving efficacy and minimize long-term toxicity, particularly given the disease’s young patient population and correspondingly long survivorship horizon.
A major focus of the conversation was the retirement of bleomycin from frontline regimens. Dr Brody explained that bleomycin carried substantial risk of pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis without strong single-agent antitumor activity and traced its decline to the phase 3 RATHL trial (NCT00678327), which established that patients with a clean interim PET scan after 2 cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) could safely omit bleomycin from subsequent cycles. He noted that this PET-adapted approach helped set the stage for the 2 trials that have since reshaped frontline advanced-stage therapy: the phase 3 ECHELON-1 trial (NCT01712490), which showed that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) outperformed standard ABVD, and the phase 3 SWOG S1826 (NCT03907488) trial, in which nivolumab (Opdivo) plus AVD produced a significantly lower relapse rate than brentuximab vedotin plus AVD, with durable benefit confirmed at the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting. Dr Brody described nivolumab plus AVD as the current standard of care for most patients with advanced-stage disease in the United States, citing both its efficacy and its more favorable toxicity profile relative to brentuximab vedotin, which carries a meaningful risk of peripheral neuropathy.
The discussion then turned to the underlying biology that makes Hodgkin lymphoma so responsive to PD-1 blockade. Dr Brody explained that the malignant Reed-Sternberg cell relies heavily on PD-L1 overexpression, frequently driven by 9p24 amplifications or translocations, to evade T-cell surveillance, leaving the tumor unusually vulnerable once that mechanism is blocked pharmacologically. He noted that this single dominant immune-evasion pathway helps explain why response rates to anti–PD-1 therapy in Hodgkin lymphoma exceed those seen in melanoma and non–small cell lung cancer.
Drs Park and Brody also explored treatment selection in early-stage disease, where Dr Brody noted that multiple regimens now achieve cure rates exceeding 90%, leaving no single clear standard. Options include traditional ABVD with low-dose radiation, radiation-free approaches with intensified chemotherapy, and emerging nivolumab-inclusive regimens, with selection often individualized based on disease location and patient-specific factors, such as the feasibility of giving radiation to sensitive anatomic sites.
On relapsed disease, Dr Brody emphasized that outcomes remain favorable even after treatment failure, with second-line therapy typically incorporating whichever novel agent, anti–PD-1 or brentuximab vedotin, was not used in the frontline setting, often combined with chemotherapy. He noted that some patients achieve durable remission without proceeding to autologous stem cell transplant, though transplant remains an option for appropriate candidates, and flagged older patients as an ongoing unmet need given poorer transplant tolerability in this population.
The conversation concluded with a look at emerging therapies beyond current CD30- and PD-1-targeted approaches, including CD70-directed antibody-drug conjugates and CD30-directed CAR T-cell therapy, both still early in development. Dr Brody highlighted new data presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting on an investigational PRMT5 inhibitor among heavily pretreated patients. He described the finding as unexpected and among the most promising developments on the horizon for relapsed and refractory disease.

Highlights from the PER® CME activity "The ADC Revolution in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Redefining Treatment Selection and Sequencing" — this podcast is not certified for credit. To participate in the full accredited activity and earn CME credit, use the link below.
In this podcast, experts Seth A. Wander, MD, PhD, Reshma L. Mahtani, DO, and Shanu Modi, MD, review pivotal data regarding the use of antibody-drug conjugates in the treatment of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, and discuss how they apply these data in the management of their patients.
Earn CME credit by completing the full accredited activity (available through July 31, 2027): https://www.gotoper.com/courses/the-adc-revolution-in-metastatic-breast-cancer-redefining-treatment-selection-and-sequencing-kppp
This podcast, including the narration, was developed by PER® (Physicians’ Education Resource®, LLC) editorial staff from the full online CME activity developed with these faculty. The narration was voiced by a PER staff member or by an AI tool. The podcast contains no product advertising. The full activity is supported by educational grants from AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.
This content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for the independent clinical judgment of a health care professional. Faculty may discuss investigational or off-label uses; consult prescribing information for any products discussed.

Highlights from the PER® CME activity "Current Approaches and Future Directions for Early-Stage TNBC" — this podcast is not certified for credit. To participate in the full accredited activity and earn CME credit, use the link below.
In this podcast, experts Nour Abuhadra, MD, and Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, discuss the emerging role of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and the practice implications of ongoing post-neoadjuvant trials.
Earn CME credit by completing the full accredited activity (available through July 31, 2027): https://www.gotoper.com/courses/current-approaches-and-future-directions-for-early-stage-tnbc
This podcast, including the narration, was developed by PER® (Physicians’ Education Resource®, LLC) editorial staff from the full online CME activity developed with these faculty. The narration was voiced by a PER staff member or by an AI tool. The podcast contains no product advertising. The full activity is supported by an educational grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc.
This content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for the independent clinical judgment of a health care professional. Faculty may discuss investigational or off-label uses; consult prescribing information for any products discussed.

Two Onc Docs, hosted by Samantha A. Armstrong, MD, and Karine Tawagi, MD, is a podcast dedicated to providing current and future oncologists and hematologists with the knowledge they need to ace their boards and deliver quality patient care. Dr Armstrong is a hematologist/oncologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. Dr Tawagi is a hematologist/oncologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
In this episode, OncLive On Air® partnered with Two Onc Docs to deliver a comprehensive, board-focused review of early-stage and locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for 2026, reflecting recent shifts in staging and perioperative therapy.
The discussion began with histology, distinguishing adenocarcinoma (positive for TTF-1 and CK7) from squamous cell carcinoma (positive for p63 and p40). Turning to staging, Drs Armstrong and Tawagi emphasized the 9th edition of the lung cancer TNM staging system, noting that T categories are unchanged but N2 is now split into N2a and N2b, and M1c is now split into M1c1 and M1c2. They also stressed the importance of biomarker testing for PD-L1, EGFR, ALK, and RET.
Regarding treatment, they explained that stage IA disease warrants surgery or stereotactic body radiation therapy without systemic therapy. In resectable disease that is 4 cm or larger or node-positive disease, driver mutations guide management: osimertinib (Tagrisso) for EGFR-mutated disease, alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK-positive disease, and selpercatinib (Retevmo) for RET-mutated disease, with immunotherapy avoided in EGFR-mutated or ALK-positive tumors. For driver-negative disease, they reviewed 4 category 1 regimens, including neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) and perioperative pembrolizumab (Keytruda) or nivolumab, cautioning against switching agents in the middle of a treatment course.
Drs Armstrong and Tawagi then addressed adjuvant immunotherapy, unresectable stage III disease management with concurrent chemoradiation followed by consolidative durvalumab (Imfinzi) or osimertinib, surgical candidacy, adjuvant chemotherapy regimens, postoperative radiation, and special circumstances, including superior sulcus tumors.