The Cancer Drug Development Forum will organize a live webinar on the topic of Challenges and opportunities in the new era of immunotherapy and radiotherapy combinations on Thursday 5 May 2022 at 18:00 (CEST). This webinar is composed of a 25-minute lecture given by Prof Charles (Chuck) Simone followed by a 30-minute discussion session.
WEBINAR OUTLINE
Immunotherapy is becoming the first-line therapy for an increasing number of cancer types. However, less than 20% of patients respond to any given immunotherapy, and acquired resistance is common. A wealth of preclinical data suggested that radiotherapy synergizes with immunotherapy through several mechanisms, including enhancing tumor antigen release and presentation as well as promoting immune cell activation and infiltration. However, combining radiotherapy with immunotherapy has not been widely adapted due to clinical and regulatory challenges.
Professor Charles Simone is the national Principal Investigator of the SWOG/NRG Oncology intergroup trial combining immunotherapy and SBRT for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer and has led or been involved in several additional trials combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with radiation therapy. In this webinar, professor Simone provided insights into the following timely and critical topics.
(1) Are all radiation modalities the same? What is the recent development in radiotherapy?
(2) What is the recent development in immunotherapy including and beyond checkpoint blockade?
(3) Lessons learned from clinical trials of combination therapy, and what are the emerging opportunities for immune-RT combinations?
WEBINAR OUTPUT
SPEAKER
Prof. Charles B. Simone, II, MD, FACRO is Research Professor and Chief Medical Officer of New York Proton Center and Full Member in Radiation Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering. He is an internationally recognized expert in proton therapy for thoracic malignancies and reirradiation. Dr. Simone was previously Chief of Thoracic Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, Director of the Penn Mesothelioma and Pleural Program, and Director of Clinical Research and Operations in Radiation Oncology at Penn. He was then appointed Medical Director of Maryland Proton Treatment Center and served as Chair of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Clinical Research Committee, proton Fellowship Director, and Director of Stereotactic Radiation Therapy at the University of Maryland. He is an NIH, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense-funded investigator who has published >435 scientific articles/chapters and given >365 scientific lectures to national/international audiences. He is the national Principal Investigator or Co-Chair of 8 NIH-funded oncology cooperative group trials and a three-time Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology Educator of the Year Award winner. He is Proton Collaborative Group President of the Board and Chairs the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Lung Resource Panel Committee, ASTRO Blue Ribbon Lung Panel, NRG Oncology Particle Therapy Work Group, PCG Executive Committee, PCG Lung Committee, American Radium Society (ARS) Appropriate Use Criteria Thoracic Committee, American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) Annual Meeting Abstracts Committee, NCI/Radiosurgery Society GRID-Lattice-Microbeam-Flash Radiotherapy Clinical Working Group, Varian FlashForward Consortium Clinical Committee, and multiple Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) subcommittees. He is Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Palliative Medicine.