This week we briefly cover updates on the RECOVERY trial before segueing into an interview with Dr. Andrae Vandross on Twitter (specifically #medtwitter), academic discussions, and changing your career to find your calling. RECOVERY: www.recoverytrial.net/ Malignant audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/B08864KFHW/?so…ACX0_195112_rh_us Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Jun 27, 2020•1 hr 21 min
This week's episode is jam-packed with topics! We talk about the RECOVERY trial, the U.S. clinical trial infrastructure, event-free survival (EFS) and cost of care in acute myeloid leukemia, how long it takes to write papers in academic medicine, threats to public health officials, and the application to medicine of Dr. Raj Chetty's work in economics. Finally, we interview this week's special guest, Dr. Ian Tannock, on docetaxel, prostrate cancer, clinical trial appraisal, and his career in medi...
Jun 19, 2020•2 hr 15 min
This week we tackle the topic of tucatinib in HER2-positive breast cancer with brain metastases. We also interview Dr. Cailin O'Connor of the University of California Irvine on her research on misinformation and disinformation. We discuss her recent article in the Boston Review, titled "Hydroxychloroquine and the Political Polarization of Science", as well as her extensive body of work. HER2CLIMB: doi.org/10.1200/JCO.20.00775 Hydroxychloroquine: http://bostonreview.net/science-nature-politics/ca...
Jun 12, 2020•1 hr 2 min
We start this week's episode by covering some recent research: After thoroughly critiquing the recent randomized trial of hydroxychloroquine for postexposure prophylaxis for COVID-19, we then discuss the five abstracts selected for plenary sessions at the recent virtual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. We transition from there to a Question from a Medical Student with Audrey Tran of Oregon Health & Science University on the recent decision to make the USMLE Step 1 exam p...
Jun 05, 2020•2 hr 7 min
This week we talk all things COVID-19! We start with an in-depth Classical Hematology Chat with Dr. Sven Olson and Dr. Joseph Shatzel of Oregon Health & Science University on thrombosis and anticoagulation in COVID-19, touching on a number of recent studies. We then turn to a conversation with Dr. Walid Gellad of the University of Pittsburgh on new pharmaceutical treatments for COVID-19. Tang et al. paper: doi.org/10.1111/jth.14768 Prospective autopsy study: doi.org/10.7326/M20-2566 COVID-19...
May 31, 2020•2 hr 7 min
This week we discuss why being open-minded enough to agree partially with someone - instead of taking an all-or-nothing approach to a discourse - is important. We also sit down with epidemiologist Dr. Daniel Morgan of the University of Maryland School of Medicine to critique the public health policy concerning COVID-19 transmission. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
May 23, 2020•1 hr 5 min
This week we have an announcement -- the audiobook of "Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer", written and narrated by our host Vinay Prasad, is available now on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible! We also have an in-depth journal club for you on the findings of the PROfound trial as published in a new paper out in the New England Journal of Medicine titled "Olaparib for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer". Finally, we end the episode with an interview with Dr....
May 16, 2020•1 hr 44 min
This BONUS lecture was a talk given to the Hematology/Oncology fellows at Oregon Health & Science University. It's part three of a three-part series on clinical trials. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
May 13, 2020•1 hr 1 min
This week's topic is all things COVID-19 -- we discuss the viral scandal of British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson's actions and how it reflects (or doesn't) on his work, we talk about the nuances of how to end lockdowns, and we bring back Dr. Benjamin Singer, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Northwestern University, to address updates in the ICU management of COVID-19. Invisible Pandemic: doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31035-7 Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
May 07, 2020•1 hr 7 min
This week we begin with a monologue on the recent controversy surrounding Dr. John Ioannidis's published opinions on the COVID-19 pandemic. We end with a group discussion with Oregon Health & Science University's Hematology/Oncology fellows on our host's, Vinay Prasad's, new book "Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer." Expressing different views on COVID-19: https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/27/hear-scientists-different-views-covid-19-dont-attack-them/ Malignant:...
May 02, 2020•1 hr 26 min
This week we have a BONUS episode for you! As a teaser to the forthcoming audiobook of "Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer" by Dr. Vinay Prasad (our host), Audrey Tran and Ian Straehley have set the introduction of the book to music they composed and arranged themselves. You can buy the print version of Malignant from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Malignant-Policy-Evidence-People-Cancer-dp-1421437635/dp/1421437635/ Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysessi...
Apr 25, 2020•21 min
This week we start with an in-depth monologue on various new developments surrounding COVID-19, specifically the new study in NEJM on the compassionate use of remdesivir as well as the CDC's advice for the general public to wear cloth masks. We end with an interview with Dr. Ameet Sarpatwari of Harvard Medical School on how to create a more effective pharmaceutical system, the CREATES Act of 2019, developing fair and equitable drugs to treat COVID-19, and how to create a just system that balance...
Apr 16, 2020•1 hr 16 min
This week we have a far-reaching monologue on COVID-19 and how people are reacting to the public health recommendations concerning COVID-19 (such as cancelling conferences and school, maintaining 6+ feet of distance, wearing cloth masks). We end with an insightful interview with Dr. Venk Murthy on polygenic risk score and, at the end, a bit about how the world of science is failing to combat hype. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Apr 11, 2020•1 hr 33 min
This week we discuss several recent articles on the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19, specifically Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee's article on the history and science of humanity's history with viruses, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel's essay on how to fairly allocate dwindling medical resources during this global pandemic, and Dr. John Ioannidis's article on the "evidence fiasco" that has been our response to COVID-19. We end the episode with a Classical Hematology Chat with Drs. Sven Olson and Joseph...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 27 min
This week we discuss management of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit with Dr. Benjamin Singer, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Northwestern University. We discuss medications, PPE, ventilators, and more! Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Mar 25, 2020•38 min
This bonus episode is an interview from March 16, 2020 with Dr. John Townes, the Interim Head for the Division of Infectious Disease and the Medical Director for Infection Prevention and Control here at Oregon Health & Science University. We talk about the novel coronavirus and how healthcare professionals are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on Oregon. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Mar 18, 2020•42 min
This week we discuss two recent papers -- one we praise, one we condemn -- and then we turn to a question of the week with medical student Audrey Tran on self-improvement and "refining conviction". The first paper is titled "Patient Experience Captured by Quality-of-Life Measurement in Oncology Clinical Trials" and the second is titled "Overall survival in patients with pancreatic cancer receiving matched therapies following molecular profiling: a retrospective analysis of the Know Your Tumor re...
Mar 17, 2020•1 hr 8 min
This BONUS lecture was a talk given to the Hematology/Oncology fellows here at Oregon Health & Science University. It's part two of a three-part series on clinical trials. This talk is on clinical trial design, specifically crossover and control arms. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Mar 11, 2020•52 min
This week we revisit BEACON! The authors of the BEACON study have responded to the Letter to the Editor our host Dr. Vinay Prasad submitted to the New England Journal of Medicine, and we share our thoughts on what they said. We then turn to the FDA's recent approval of neratinib in combination with capecitabine for HER2-positive breast cancer, based on the phase III NALA trial. Finally, we interview Dr. David Carr, a Molecular Pathology Fellow at UC San Diego, on his work in general and, specifi...
Mar 05, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Our guest this week is Dr. Michael Hengartner of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. We interview him on his work studying the long-term consequences and effectiveness of newer-generation antidepressants - specifically focusing on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Feb 27, 2020•43 min
We start this episode by diving deep into KEYNOTE-048, the randomized, open-label, phase 3 study of pembrolizumab alone or with chemotherapy v.s. cetuximab with chemotherapy for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). We transition from there to a continued discussion on careerism in academia and how the motivation behind publishing papers should always stem from the drive to disseminate information, not from the drive to advance your own career. We end the ...
Feb 19, 2020•52 min
We have a full slate for you this week! We discuss careerism in medicine, presenting abstracts at conferences, #MedTwitter, and Dr. Califf's opinions on the K-Index. We conclude the episode with our first-ever Classical Hematology Chat, featuring our host Dr. Vinay Prasad, Dr. Sven Olson, and Dr. Joseph Shatzel. The chat is on sickle cell disease. "A Perspective on the K-Index": doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccas.2020.01.003 Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Feb 14, 2020•1 hr 10 min
This week we discuss the concept of "thought leaders" and we examine the conclusions about volume CT screening for lung cancer from the NELSON trial. We end with an interview with Dr. Sam Rubinstein, a hematology/oncology fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, on his new paper published in JAMA Network Open titled "Indication of Measures of Uncertainty for Statistical Significance in Abstracts of Published Oncology Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis". NELSON: doi.org/10.1056/...
Feb 07, 2020•59 min
This BONUS episode is the recording of a lecture given to medical students titled "How to Keep Up with the New Information in Medicine." It's a primer on the steps healthcare professionals need to take in order to keep abreast of the latest medical findings. Vinay's new book, Malignant: www.amazon.com/Malignant-Policy-…cer/dp/1421437635 Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Jan 31, 2020•1 hr
We have a variety of topics for you this week! We tackle red light therapy, polatuzumab olatuzumab vedotin in relapsed or refractory diffuse large b-cell lymphoma; we have a hematology/oncology question of the week from Dr. Emerson Chen of OHSU; and we sit down with Dr. Ali Khaki of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to discuss his recent paper critiquing TAILORx. Pola for DLBCL: doi.org/10.1200/JCO.19.00172 Financial COI on Twitter: doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.8467 Ignoring Valua...
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr 32 min
This week we're treating you to a recording of the Grand Rounds lecture on overdiagnosis and cancer screening that Dr. H Gilbert Welch gave at Oregon Health & Science University on October 30, 2019. Before the lecture, we take a moment to reiterate with renewed vigor our distaste for the POLO trial (first discussed in episode 1.64). POLO: doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1903387 Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Jan 15, 2020•1 hr 14 min
This BONUS lecture was a talk given to the Hematology/Oncology fellows here at Oregon Health & Science University. It's part one of a three-part series on clinical trials, titled "Thinking Better About Cancer Medicine". Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession
Jan 10, 2020•53 min
This week we answer a few questions: the first is from Patreon backer, Harry Hong, on Kaplan-Meier curves. The second is from a student at Mount Sinai Medical School who reached out with some ethical questions they had after the ASH annual meeting on the obligations and responsibilities of peer reviewers. Finally, we end the episode with an interview with Dr. Bishal Gyawali of Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada on his new paper out today in the Journal of the National Comprehensive C...
Jan 07, 2020•40 min
This week we return to our discussion of going after soft targets vs hard targets, but this time with a focus on how it applies to building a burgeoning career in medicine, in our segment Questions from a Medical Student with Audrey Tran. We end this week's episode with a far-reaching interview with Dr. Ellie Murray (most people know her as Epi Ellie on Twitter and as the co-host of the podcast Casual Inference) on all things epidemiology. Check out Dr. Murray's excellent podcast here: https://c...
Jan 03, 2020•1 hr 48 min
This week we wonder incredulously how this abstract from ASH titled "Time from diagnosis to treatment does not affect outcome in intensively treated patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia" was selected as one of the top abstracts from the conference. In the second half of the episode we interview Dr. Sherrie Aspinall of the Veterans Administration on how to use real-world data. Her new paper is titled "Use of targeted therapies for advanced renal cell carcinoma in the Veterans Heal...
Dec 27, 2019•1 hr 9 min
