Oncology On The Go

In a conversation with CancerNetwork®, Shari Goldfarb, MD spoke about key developments and challenges regarding the treatment of younger populations with breast cancer. Key areas across the field included the rising incidence of disease, including HER2-positive and triple-negative subtypes; expanding opportunities for clinical trial enrollment; and preserving fertility among patients undergoing treatment, among other focuses.
Although it’s not entirely clear why breast cancer diagnoses are becoming more common in younger groups, Goldfarb noted that a combination of genetic and environmental factors may be driving this increase. Beyond facilitating yearly mammograms among average-risk individuals starting at age 40, she said that knowing one’s family history and genetic risk may also inform personalized screening approaches.
Goldfarb also described how patients in their 20s to 40s may be underrepresented in breast cancer clinical trials due to enrollment criteria typically requiring postmenopausal status, which may be amended by expanding eligibility to patients who receive medically suppressive therapy. The conversation also touched upon providing supportive care for younger patients with breast cancer, as Goldfarb emphasized prompt fertility consultations following diagnosis for patients who desire to have children as well as other services related to integrative medicine and social work.
Additionally, Goldfarb reviewed strategies for mitigating chemotherapy-induced alopecia, highlighting how modalities like scalp cooling may reduce hair loss and improve hair regrowth. In the end, she noted the importance of employing a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure whole-person care and meet the emotional and psychological needs of patients who undergo treatment.
“Patients should always advocate for themselves…If something is different in your body, you should make sure to bring it to a doctor's attention,” Goldfarb stated. “[Patients should] make sure they get imaging or a biopsy if they need it. [They should not] wait because early diagnosis helps with finding things at an earlier stage and [yielding] better prognosis.”
Goldfarb is an assistant attending physician specializing in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

In this episode recorded at the 2026 American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) annual meeting, Daniel C. McFarland, DO, sat down with Kelly Irwin, MD, to address one of the most challenging topics in oncology: suicide risk. The conversation aimed to equip oncologists with the tools and confidence to navigate the emotional complexities of cancer care.
Key Discussion Points:

Understanding the Risk: Patients with cancer experience more than double the risk of completed suicide compared with the general population. The risk is highest during the first month following a diagnosis—a 12-fold increase in some studies—and remains elevated for the first year.

Identifying High-Risk Factors: Beyond a prior suicide attempt (the No.1 risk factor), specific contributors include advanced-stage disease, financial distress, and cancers that impact core identity or physical function, such as head and neck or pancreatic cancers.

The Power of Asking: Both experts emphasized that a clinician asking about suicide does not increase the risk. Irwin advises clinicians to trust their instincts and use a continuum of questioning, starting with general feelings of hopelessness and moving toward specific plans and access to "means" (such as firearms or medication).

The "Don’t Worry Alone" Rule: Irwin urged clinicians never to handle these concerns in isolation. She recommended involving social workers, nurses, and family members, noting that in life-threatening situations, clinician-patient confidentiality (HIPAA) can be "broken" to ensure safety.

Relieving Suffering and Building Connection: The primary goal is to make the "unbearable bearable". Irwin highlighted that even small, non-transactional gestures—like a "thinking of you" message—can significantly decrease suicide risk by reinforcing a patient's sense of belonging and mattering.

Available Resources:

·      National Mental Health Hotline: Call or text 988
·      Connect with a crisis counselor: Text HOME to 741741
·      Samaritans Hotline and Website: (877)870-4673; https://samaritanshope.org/our-services/24-7-helpline/

McFarland is the director of the Psycho-Oncology Program at Wilmot Cancer Center and a medical oncologist who specializes in head, neck, and lung cancer, in addition to being a psycho-oncology editorial advisory board member for the journal ONCOLOGY®. Irwin is an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a faculty psychiatrist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center and MGH Schizophrenia Program, where she founded the Cancer Prevention Program.

In a conversation with CancerNetwork®, Julian Hong, MD, MS, discussed considerations for optimizing care among patients with mental health disorders (MHDs) who are undergoing treatment for cancer. He spoke in the context of a study he and coauthors published in Cancer, which showed that patients with cancer and a mental health condition experience an increased risk of all-cause mortality.
Specifically, findings from the study demonstrated that early MHDs conferred a heightened all-cause mortality risk in the initial 12 to 35 months of cancer diagnosis (HR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.47-1.56). This trend diminished over time, with gradually reduced risks observed from 36 to 59 months (HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11-1.24) and from 60 to 120 months after that initial period (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.89-1.01). Furthermore, the risk of all-cause mortality was even higher for patients with an early MHD and receipt of psychotropic medications at 12 to 36 months (HR, 2.67; 95% CI, 2.52-2.83), 36 to 60 months (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.07-1.46), and 60 to 120 months (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.82-1.25).
“We’re…trying to combine different types of data to identify earlier mental health diagnoses. Even what can feel like small amounts of time—weeks and months—can make a huge difference for people who are going through these conditions,” Hong stated regarding the next steps for research in the field. “It’s one thing to help identify some of these issues and some of these implications of different conditions, but at the end of the day, the goal is to intervene on these things and do a better job of taking care of patients.”
Hong is an associate professor of radiation oncology in the Baker Computational Health Sciences Institute at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and head of Artificial Intelligence at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Reference

Ganjouei AA, Zack T, Friesner I, et al. Association of mental health disorders and all-cause mortality for patients with cancer: large-scale analysis of University of California Health System data. Cancer. 2026;132(5):e70254. doi:10.1002/cncr.70254

In this episode of Oncology on The Go, created in collaboration with the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, Daniel C. McFarland, DO, and Ilana M. Braun, MD, dove into the complexities of cannabis use within the oncology landscape. They explored the tension between rising public popularity and the need for rigorous scientific scrutiny in symptom management.
Key Discussion Points:

The 2024 ASCO Guidelines: Braun highlighted the first-of-its-kind clinical guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which acknowledge medicinal utility for chemotherapy-induced nausea, vomiting (as an adjunct), and non-cancer pain.

Routes of Administration: McFarland and Braun compared oral, combusted, and vaporized methods, noting that while oncologists favor oral routes, they are subject to "first-pass metabolism," which can delay relief.

Safety and Clinical Concerns: There are potential negative impacts on outcomes for patients using immune checkpoint inhibitors.
 Risks may impact patients with a personal or family history of psychosis when using THC-predominant products.

 There are possible dangers linked to e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI) from informally sourced products.

 

Addressing "Cancer-Directed" Claims: The pair addressed the misconception that cannabis treats the cancer itself, noting that ASCO explicitly discourages using it as a replacement for conventional treatments like chemotherapy or surgery.

The Future of Research: The discussion concluded with the potential impact of reclassifying cannabis to Schedule III, which could reduce red tape and enable high-quality comparative efficacy trials for sleep, anxiety, and depression.

The conversation emphasized a "harm reduction" approach, urging oncologists to provide stigma-free, evidence-based education while respecting patient autonomy.
McFarland is the director of the Psycho-Oncology Program at Wilmot Cancer Center and a medical oncologist who specializes in head, neck, and lung cancer, in addition to being the psycho-oncology editorial advisory board member for the journal ONCOLOGY. Braun is an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and senior physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 
Reference
Braun IM, Bohlke K, Abrams DI, et al. Cannabis and cannabinoids in adults with cancer: ASCO guideline. J Clin Oncol. 2024;42(13):1575-1593. doi:10.1200/JCO.23.02596

During a visit to Columbia University Irving Cancer Research Center, experts across hematologic oncology shared their perspectives on key trends and developments in their respective fields. These conversations explored novel therapeutic approaches and translational research that may advance the paradigm across different leukemia, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma populations.
First, Nicole Lamanna, MD, an associate clinical professor of medicine in the Hematologic Malignancies Section of the Hematology/Oncology Division at Irving Medical Center, discussed relevant advancements in the management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). She described how the FDA approval of fixed-duration acalabrutinib (Calquence) plus venetoclax (Venclexta) may affirm a shift away from standard chemoimmunotherapy in the field. Her discussion also emphasized evaluating the adverse effects and benefit/risk profiles of drug classes such as BTK inhibitors and BCL-2 inhibitors during the treatment decision-making process.
Next, Rajshekhar Chakraborty, MD, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Irving Medical Center, touched upon critical themes related to the use of bispecific antibodies for patients with multiple myeloma and other plasma cell disorders. Educating providers on the utility of bispecific antibodies in earlier treatment settings, he noted, is one of the important challenges that the field must address to expand usage of these therapies in community practices. He also highlighted findings from the phase 3 MajesTEC-3 trial (NCT05083169) and how they support the clinical utility of teclistamab-cqyv (Tecvayli) plus daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj (Darzalex Faspro) for patients with relapsed/refractory disease.
Finally, Hua-Jay “Jeff” Cherng, MD, an assistant professor of medicine in the Lymphoma Program in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Irving Medical Center, detailed translational work that may shape clinical practice in the lymphoma space. He spoke about research aiming to move markers like ctDNA and minimal residual disease from “the bench to the bedside” as part of clinical decision-making for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Other future focuses, Cherng said, include leveraging molecular genotyping to improve outcomes for higher-risk subgroups or even replacing chemotherapy with less toxic targeted agents.
References

CALQUENCE® plus venetoclax approved in the US as first all-oral, fixed-duration combination for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the 1st-line setting. News release. AstraZeneca. February 20, 2026. Accessed March 11, 2026. https://tinyurl.com/38zbx96s

Mateos MV, Bahlis N, Perrot A, et al. Phase 3 randomized study of teclistamab plus daratumumab versus investigator’s choice of daratumumab and dexamethasone with either pomalidomide or bortezomib (DPd/DVd) in patients (pts) with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM): results of MajesTEC-3. Blood. 2025;146(suppl 2):LBA-6. doi:10.1182/blood-2025-LBA-6