Oncology Journal Club

Welcome to the Oncology Journal Club at Salinas Valley Health. Our goal is to create a forum where oncologists can come together to discuss the latest developments in oncology research and their implications for patient care. We believe that by fostering a culture of continuous learning and critical thinking, we can improve the quality of care we provide to our patients.

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Starting in 2025, our journal club will now meet on a monthly basis (3rd Tuesday from 12:30p-1p), via WebEx and each meeting is focused on a specific article or topic related to oncology. Our discussions are led by a different Salinas Valley Health oncologist each month, and we encourage everyone to participate in the discussion and share their thoughts and experiences.

Our meetings are held via WebEx, and we welcome all oncologists in our community to join us. We believe that by sharing our knowledge and experiences, we can all learn from each other and provide better care to our patients.

If you are interested in joining our Oncology Journal Club, please contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you and learning together.

2025 Oncology Journal Club via WebEx

Presenter MonthDayYearSiteArticle
Dr. VarmaJanuary212025Information from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2024Morrow M. Sentinel-Lymph-Node Biopsy in Early-Stage Breast Cancer – Is It Obsolete? N Engl J Med. 2024 Dec 12. doi: 10.1056/NEJMe2414899. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39665673.
Reimer T, Stachs A, Veselinovic K, Kühn T, Heil J, Polata S, Marmé F, Müller T, Hildebrandt G, Krug D, Ataseven B, Reitsamer R, Ruth S, Denkert C, Bekes I, Zahm DM, Thill M, Golatta M, Holtschmidt J, Knauer M, Nekljudova V, Loibl S, Gerber B. Axillary Surgery in Breast Cancer – Primary Results of the INSEMA Trial. N Engl J Med. 2024 Dec 12. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2412063. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39665649.
Dr. VarmaFebruary182025American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium 2025ASCO GI 2025 Update
Dr. LiuMarch182025Shah MA, Shitara K, Ajani JA, Bang YJ, Enzinger P, Ilson D, Lordick F, Van Cutsem E, Gallego Plazas J, Huang J, Shen L, Oh SC, Sunpaweravong P, Soo Hoo HF, Turk HM, Oh M, Park JW, Moran D, Bhattacharya P, Arozullah A, Xu RH. Zolbetuximab plus CAPOX in CLDN18.2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma: the randomized, phase 3 GLOW trial. Nat Med. 2023 Aug;29(8):2133-2141. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02465-7. Epub 2023 Jul 31. PMID: 37524953; PMCID: PMC10427418.
Shitara K, Lordick F, Bang YJ, Enzinger P, Ilson D, Shah MA, Van Cutsem E, Xu RH, Aprile G, Xu J, Chao J, Pazo-Cid R, Kang YK, Yang J, Moran D, Bhattacharya P, Arozullah A, Park JW, Oh M, Ajani JA. Zolbetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 in patients with CLDN18.2-positive, HER2-negative, untreated, locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (SPOTLIGHT): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2023 May 20;401(10389):1655-1668. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00620-7. Epub 2023 Apr 15. Erratum in: Lancet. 2023 Jul 22;402(10398):290. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01481-2. Erratum in: Lancet. 2024 Jan 6;403(10421):30. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02762-9. PMID: 37068504.
Dr. AndradeApril 152025
Dr. AzizMay202025
Dr. ZhaoJune172025
July152025
Dr. AzizAugust192025
Dr. AndradeSeptember162025
Dr. LiuOctober212025
Dr. ZhaoNovember182025
Dr. BiehlDecember162025
Copies of the articles are provided to participants one (1) week prior to the session via email. You must contact [email protected] to join.

2023-2024 Oncology Journal Club via WebEx

PresenterMonthDayYearSiteArticle
Dr. AndradeApril112023BrainBrown PD, Gondi V, Pugh S, Tome WA, Wefel JS, Armstrong TS, Bovi JA, Robinson C, Konski A, Khuntia D, Grosshans D, Benzinger TLS, Bruner D, Gilbert MR, Roberge D, Kundapur V, Devisetty K, Shah S, Usuki K, Anderson BM, Stea B, Yoon H, Li J, Laack NN, Kruser TJ, Chmura SJ, Shi W, Deshmukh S, Mehta MP, Kachnic LA; for NRG Oncology. Hippocampal Avoidance During Whole-Brain Radiotherapy Plus Memantine for Patients With Brain Metastases: Phase III Trial NRG Oncology CC001. J Clin Oncol. 2020 Apr 1;38(10):1019-1029. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.02767. Epub 2020 Feb 14. PMID: 32058845; PMCID: PMC7106984.
Weiner JP. Neurocognitive Outcomes for Patients With Brain Metastasis in the Modern Era: Benefit of Treatment With Hippocampal Avoidance Whole-Brain Radiotherapy Plus Memantine. J Clin Oncol. 2020 Apr 1;38(10):1003-1005. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.03359. Epub 2020 Feb 14. PMID: 32058847.
May92023cancelled
Dr. AzizJune132023Rectal CancerSchrag D, Shi Q, Weiser MR, Gollub MJ, Saltz LB, Musher BL, Goldberg J, Al Baghdadi T, Goodman KA, McWilliams RR, Farma JM, George TJ, Kennecke HF, Shergill A, Montemurro M, Nelson GD, Colgrove B, Gordon V, Venook AP, O’Reilly EM, Meyerhardt JA, Dueck AC, Basch E, Chang GJ, Mamon HJ. Preoperative Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2023 Jun 4. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2303269. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37272534.
Dr. JaniJuly112023Esophageal CancerKelly RJ, Ajani JA, Kuzdzal J, Zander T, Van Cutsem E, Piessen G, Mendez G, Feliciano J, Motoyama S, Lièvre A, Uronis H, Elimova E, Grootscholten C, Geboes K, Zafar S, Snow S, Ko AH, Feeney K, Schenker M, Kocon P, Zhang J, Zhu L, Lei M, Singh P, Kondo K, Cleary JM, Moehler M; CheckMate 577 Investigators. Adjuvant Nivolumab in Resected Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2021 Apr 1;384(13):1191-1203. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2032125. Erratum in: N Engl J Med. 2023 Feb 16;388(7):672. PMID: 33789008.
Dr. ZhaoAugust222023Breast Cancer3 abstracts from ASCO 2023
Primary outcome analysis of the phase 3 SONIA trial (BOOG 2017-03) on selecting the optimal position of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors for patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC).
Efficacy and safety results by age in monarchE: Adjuvant abemaciclib combined with endocrine therapy (ET) in patients with HR+, HER2-, node-positive, high-risk early breast cancer (EBC).
Ribociclib and endocrine therapy as adjuvant treatment in patients with HR+/HER2- early breast cancer: Primary results from the phase III NATALEE trial.
September122023no meeting
October102023no meeting
Dr. BiehlNovember15Chang JY, Lin SH, Dong W, Liao Z, Gandhi SJ, Gay CM, Zhang J, Chun SG, Elamin YY, Fossella FV, Blumenschein G, Cascone T, Le X, Pozadzides JV, Tsao A, Verma V, Welsh JW, Chen AB, Altan M, Mehran RJ, Vaporciyan AA, Swisher SG, Balter PA, Fujimoto J, Wistuba II, Feng L, Lee JJ, Heymach JV. Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy with or without immunotherapy for early-stage or isolated lung parenchymal recurrent node-negative non-small-cell lung cancer: an open-label, randomised, phase 2 trial. Lancet. 2023 Sep 9;402(10405):871-881. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01384-3. Epub 2023 Jul 18. Erratum in: Lancet. 2023 Sep 9;402(10405):850. PMID: 37478883; PMCID: PMC10529504.
Dr. VarmaDecember28 (@12:noon)2023BreastSan Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Update (SABCS)
Dr. AzizJanuary162024Kerekes DM, Frey AE, Prsic EH, Tran TT, Clune JE, Sznol M, Kluger HM, Forman HP, Becher RD, Olino KL, Khan SA. Immunotherapy Initiation at the End of Life in Patients With Metastatic Cancer in the US. JAMA Oncol. 2024 Jan 4:e236025. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.6025. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38175659; PMCID: PMC10767643.
Dr. AndradeFebruary132024Whelan TJ, Smith S, Parpia S, Fyles AW, Bane A, Liu FF, Rakovitch E, Chang L, Stevens C, Bowen J, Provencher S, Théberge V, Mulligan AM, Kos Z, Akra MA, Voduc KD, Hijal T, Dayes IS, Pond G, Wright JR, Nielsen TO, Levine MN; LUMINA Study Investigators. Omitting Radiotherapy after Breast-Conserving Surgery in Luminal A Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2023 Aug 17;389(7):612-619. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2302344. PMID: 37585627.
Dr. LiuMarch122024Powles T, Valderrama BP, Gupta S, Bedke J, Kikuchi E, Hoffman-Censits J, Iyer G, Vulsteke C, Park SH, Shin SJ, Castellano D, Fornarini G, Li JR, Gümüş M, Mar N, Loriot Y, Fléchon A, Duran I, Drakaki A, Narayanan S, Yu X, Gorla S, Homet Moreno B, van der Heijden MS; EV-302 Trial Investigators. Enfortumab Vedotin and Pembrolizumab in Untreated Advanced Urothelial Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2024 Mar 7;390(10):875-888. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2312117. PMID: 38446675.
Dr. ZhaoApril92024Kalinsky K, Barlow WE, Gralow JR, Meric-Bernstam F, Albain KS, Hayes DF, Lin NU, Perez EA, Goldstein LJ, Chia SKL, Dhesy-Thind S, Rastogi P, Alba E, Delaloge S, Martin M, Kelly CM, Ruiz-Borrego M, Gil-Gil M, Arce-Salinas CH, Brain EGC, Lee ES, Pierga JY, Bermejo B, Ramos-Vazquez M, Jung KH, Ferrero JM, Schott AF, Shak S, Sharma P, Lew DL, Miao J, Tripathy D, Pusztai L, Hortobagyi GN. 21-Gene Assay to Inform Chemotherapy Benefit in Node-Positive Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2021 Dec 16;385(25):2336-2347. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2108873. Epub 2021 Dec 1. PMID: 34914339; PMCID: PMC9096864.
Dr. BiehlMay212024Lorusso D, Xiang Y, Hasegawa K, Scambia G, Leiva M, Ramos-Elias P, Acevedo A, Sukhin V, Cloven N, Pereira de Santana Gomes AJ, Contreras Mejía F, Reiss A, Ayhan A, Lee JY, Saevets V, Zagouri F, Gilbert L, Sehouli J, Tharavichitkul E, Lindemann K, Lazzari R, Chang CL, Lampé R, Zhu H, Oaknin A, Christiaens M, Polterauer S, Usami T, Li K, Yamada K, Toker S, Keefe SM, Pignata S, Duska LR; ENGOT-cx11/GOG-3047/KEYNOTE-A18 investigators. Pembrolizumab or placebo with chemoradiotherapy followed by pembrolizumab or placebo for newly diagnosed, high-risk, locally advanced cervical cancer (ENGOT-cx11/GOG-3047/KEYNOTE-A18): a randomised, double-blind, phase 3 clinical trial. Lancet. 2024 Apr 6;403(10434):1341-1350. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00317-9. Epub 2024 Mar 20. PMID: 38521086.
Dr. VarmaJune112024Matei D, Filiaci V, Randall ME, Mutch D, Steinhoff MM, DiSilvestro PA, Moxley KM, Kim YM, Powell MA, O’Malley DM, Spirtos NM, Small W Jr, Tewari KS, Richards WE, Nakayama J, Matulonis UA, Huang HQ, Miller DS. Adjuvant Chemotherapy plus Radiation for Locally Advanced Endometrial Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2019 Jun 13;380(24):2317-2326. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1813181. PMID: 31189035; PMCID: PMC6948006.
de Boer SM, Powell ME, Mileshkin L, Katsaros D, Bessette P, Haie-Meder C, Ottevanger PB, Ledermann JA, Khaw P, Colombo A, Fyles A, Baron MH, Jürgenliemk-Schulz IM, Kitchener HC, Nijman HW, Wilson G, Brooks S, Carinelli S, Provencher D, Hanzen C, Lutgens LCHW, Smit VTHBM, Singh N, Do V, D’Amico R, Nout RA, Feeney A, Verhoeven-Adema KW, Putter H, Creutzberg CL; PORTEC study group. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone for women with high-risk endometrial cancer (PORTEC-3): final results of an international, open-label, multicentre, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2018 Mar;19(3):295-309. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30079-2. Epub 2018 Feb 12. Erratum in: Lancet Oncol. 2018 Apr;19(4):e184. PMID: 29449189; PMCID: PMC5840256.
Nout RA, Smit VT, Putter H, Jürgenliemk-Schulz IM, Jobsen JJ, Lutgens LC, van der Steen-Banasik EM, Mens JW, Slot A, Kroese MC, van Bunningen BN, Ansink AC, van Putten WL, Creutzberg CL; PORTEC Study Group. Vaginal brachytherapy versus pelvic external beam radiotherapy for patients with endometrial cancer of high-intermediate risk (PORTEC-2): an open-label, non-inferiority, randomised trial. Lancet. 2010 Mar 6;375(9717):816-23. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)62163-2. PMID: 20206777.
July9POSTPONED
Dr. AzizAugust203 abstracts 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Plenary Sessions
Dr. AndradeSeptember10Rusthoven CG, Staley AW, Gao D, Yomo S, Bernhardt D, Wandrey N, El Shafie R, Kraemer A, Padilla O, Chiang V, Faramand AM, Palmer JD, Zacharia BE, Wegner RE, Hattangadi-Gluth JA, Levy A, Bernstein K, Mathieu D, Cagney DN, Chan MD, Grills IS, Braunstein S, Lee CC, Sheehan JP, Kluwe C, Patel S, Halasz LM, Andratschke N, Deibert CP, Verma V, Trifiletti DM, Cifarelli CP, Debus J, Combs SE, Sato Y, Higuchi Y, Aoyagi K, Brown PD, Alami V, Niranjan A, Lunsford LD, Kondziolka D, Camidge DR, Kavanagh BD, Robin TP, Serizawa T, Yamamoto M. Comparison of first-line radiosurgery for small-cell and non-small cell lung cancer brain metastases (CROSS-FIRE). J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 Aug 8;115(8):926-936. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djad073. PMID: 37142267; PMCID: PMC10407696.
Rusthoven CG, Yamamoto M, Bernhardt D, Smith DE, Gao D, Serizawa T, Yomo S, Aiyama H, Higuchi Y, Shuto T, Akabane A, Sato Y, Niranjan A, Faramand AM, Lunsford LD, McInerney J, Tuanquin LC, Zacharia BE, Chiang V, Singh C, Yu JB, Braunstein S, Mathieu D, Touchette CJ, Lee CC, Yang HC, Aizer AA, Cagney DN, Chan MD, Kondziolka D, Bernstein K, Silverman JS, Grills IS, Siddiqui ZA, Yuan JC, Sheehan JP, Cordeiro D, Nosaki K, Seto T, Deibert CP, Verma V, Day S, Halasz LM, Warnick RE, Trifiletti DM, Palmer JD, Attia A, Li B, Cifarelli CP, Brown PD, Vargo JA, Combs SE, Kessel KA, Rieken S, Patel S, Guckenberger M, Andratschke N, Kavanagh BD, Robin TP. Evaluation of First-line Radiosurgery vs Whole-Brain Radiotherapy for Small Cell Lung Cancer Brain Metastases: The FIRE-SCLC Cohort Study. JAMA Oncol. 2020 Jul 1;6(7):1028-1037. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.1271. Erratum in: JAMA Oncol. 2020 Sep 1;6(9):1473. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.3404. PMID: 32496550; PMCID: PMC7273318.
Dr. LiuOctober8Schmid P, Cortes J, Dent R, McArthur H, Pusztai L, Kümmel S, Denkert C, Park YH, Hui R, Harbeck N, Takahashi M, Im SA, Untch M, Fasching PA, Mouret-Reynier MA, Foukakis T, Ferreira M, Cardoso F, Zhou X, Karantza V, Tryfonidis K, Aktan G, O’Shaughnessy J; KEYNOTE-522 Investigators. Overall Survival with Pembrolizumab in Early-Stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2024 Sep 15. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2409932. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39282906.
Dr. ZhaoNovember12Eskander RN, Sill MW, Beffa L, Moore RG, Hope JM, Musa FB, Mannel R, Shahin MS, Cantuaria GH, Girda E, Mathews C, Kavecansky J, Leath CA 3rd, Gien LT, Hinchcliff EM, Lele SB, Landrum LM, Backes F, O’Cearbhaill RE, Al Baghdadi T, Hill EK, Thaker PH, John VS, Welch S, Fader AN, Powell MA, Aghajanian C. Pembrolizumab plus Chemotherapy in Advanced Endometrial Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2023 Jun 8;388(23):2159-2170. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2302312. Epub 2023 Mar 27. PMID: 36972022; PMCID: PMC10351614.
Dr. BiehlDecember10Sun H, Li M, Huang W, Zhang J, Wei S, Yang Y, Wang Z, Ye S, Gong H, Zhang Y, Li J, Song H, Wang L, Chen X, Lin H, Ding G, Li H, Zheng A, Ma X, Chen S, Liu L, Zhang K, Fu C, Liu W, Wang J, Zhang X, Liu T, Han D, Zhao Q, Wu P, Yuan Q, Tian L, Zhang P, Wu X, Chen F, Zhang Z, Li B. Thoracic Radiotherapy Improves the Survival in Patients With EGFR-Mutated Oligo-Organ Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled, Phase III Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Oct 7:JCO2302075. doi: 10.1200/JCO.23.02075. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39374473.
Wang XS, Bai YF, Verma V, Yu RL, Tian W, Ao R, Deng Y, Zhu XQ, Liu H, Pan HX, Yang L, Bai HS, Luo X, Guo Y, Zhou MX, Sun YM, Zhang ZC, Li SM, Cheng X, Tan BX, Han LF, Liu YY, Zhang K, Zeng FX, Jia L, Hao XB, Wang YY, Feng G, Xie K, Lu Y, Zeng M. Randomized Trial of First-Line Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor With or Without Radiotherapy for Synchronous Oligometastatic EGFR-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 Jun 8;115(6):742-748. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djac015. Erratum in: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 Jun 8;115(6):773. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djad084. PMID: 35094066; PMCID: PMC10248839.
Dr. VarmaJanuary 202521
Copies of the articles are provided to participants one (1) week prior to the session via email. You must contact [email protected] to join.