Cancer Conference News: ASCO 2025
Cedars-Sinai Experts Available for Interviews During American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting
Oncology experts from Cedars-Sinai Cancer will attend the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, a global gathering of cancer scientists and clinicians May 30-June 3 in Chicago. They will present original research and are available for interviews about breaking news.
Experts are available to discuss an array of topics, including:
- Advanced prostate cancer treatment and patient outcomes
- Kidney cancer clinical trials
- New pancreatic cancer treatments
- Increasing participation in lung cancer clinical trials
- Liver metastasis in advanced lung cancer
- Advances in pediatric soft tissue sarcoma
Cedars-Sinai Experts
Robert Figlin, MD, is the interim director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer and the Stephen Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology. His research focuses on understanding the biology of kidney cancer and translating that knowledge into novel treatment approaches that avoid the toxicity associated with standard treatments.
Howard Sandler, MD, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, conducts research examining radiotherapy and chemotherapy for prostate cancer, including clinical trials to investigate novel radiation-targeting strategies for prostate cancer. He is also focused on evaluating the quality of life of prostate cancer patients following surgery and radiation therapy.
Stephen Freedland, MD, is a professor of Urology and director of the Center for Integrated Research in Cancer and Lifestyle. At the conference, he will present research on outcomes in patients treated with enzalutamide versus leuprolide for high-risk advanced prostate cancer. He also will present a study of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response measures and clinical outcomes in prostate cancer patients.
Jun Gong, MD, medical director of Colorectal Cancer in the Department of Medicine, specializes in gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, and genitourinary cancers, with a multidisciplinary focus of care. His translational and clinical cancer research interests include early therapeutic trials of immunotherapy, targeted therapies, biologics, and other systemic therapies and biomarker development.
Andrew Hendifar, MD, medical director of Pancreatic Cancer, focuses on developing radioimmunotherapy for neuroendocrine tumors, anti-inflammatory therapy for pancreatic cancer and novel approaches to cancer cachexia. He leads the Gastrointestinal Disease Research Group and is the founding director of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program.
Leo Mascarenhas, MD, is director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s and medical director of the Adult and Pediatric Sarcoma Program. Mascarenhas is known for his expertise in treating sarcomas—rare cancers that occur in bone or soft tissue—as well as pediatric solid tumors. At the conference, he will present an education session on current knowledge and future directions in treatment of localized pediatric soft tissue sarcoma.
Arsen Osipov, MD, is medical director of Pancreatic Cancer, and the goal of his research is to unlock the potential of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer. He can discuss research being presented at the conference on clinical trials in advanced pancreatic cancer and the significance of certain genetic mutations in pancreatic cancer.
Edwin Posadas, MD, medical director of the Urologic Oncology Program, is studying the mechanisms through which prostate cancer cells in localized tumors spread to other parts of the body and the role of circulating tumor cells and immune cells as biomarkers in prostate and other cancers, using novel nanotechnology platforms.
Karen Reckamp, MD, is director of the Division of Medical Oncology and director of Medical Oncology in the Lung Institute. Her research focus is the development of novel therapies and biomarkers for lung cancer, with an emphasis on targeted therapies. At the conference, she will present information about Pragmatica-Lung, a pragmatic clinical trial designed to increase patient representation.
Kamya Sankar, MD, is co-medical director of the Thoracic Disease Research Group, and her primary research interest is the liver tumor microenvironment and its role in the effectiveness of immunotherapy. She is also focused on developing and expanding therapeutic clinical trials and advancing biomarker development in advanced lung cancers. At the conference, she will present research highlighting significant differences in the tumor microenvironment between liver metastases and primary lung tumors.
At the conference, hematology-oncology fellow Louisa Liu, MD, mentored by Gong, will receive the 2025 Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award, which provides funding to promising investigators to encourage and promote quality research in clinical oncology.
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