Conversation with The Cancer Letter

It may not be possible to point to definitive causes of the turnover in the executive offices of top academic cancer centers. However, the job of a center director is changing, said Robert Ferris, director of the University of Pittsburgh UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

The idea that led to the site-agnostic indication for Keytruda (pembrolizumab) came from the academic oncologists, who ended up defining the biologic mechanism of activity of this class of drugs.

The application for approval of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) was based on internal discussions within FDA as well as working “proactively with the sponsor to submit this application,” said Steven Lemery, associate director, Division of Oncology Products 2, FDA Office of Hematology and Oncology Products.

As the inaugural chair of the University of California Cancer Consortium, Alan Ashworth has to do a little cheerleading and a lot of pushing for integration of the electronic health records across the UC cancer centers.

The Next Step is an occasional series of conversations in which The Cancer Letter will focus on cancer researchers in the midst of transition from one position to another.

A SWOG study estimates that implementation of findings from that group's clinical trials has added 3.34 million years to the lives of cancer patients in the 60 years since its founding in 1956.

When former Vice President Joe Biden sought to convene and cajole cancer organizations into breaking down silos as part of the Cancer Moonshot, he frequently expressed frustration about reluctance on the part of cancer organizations to share data.