The Cancer Trials Ireland Podcast

Although the NCI-MATCH precision medicine cancer trial has now wrapped up, we are still learning a lot from this enormous initiative.Today we hear from co-chair of NCI-MATCH about the results, what it has taught us about genomics and what it means for the future of cancer treatment.Our guest is Peter J. O’Dwyer, MD, a GI medical oncologist, Group Co-Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, and professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Within ECOG-ACRIN, he co-chairs the landmark NCI-MATCH precision medicine cancer trial, and is the CEO and Chair of PrECOG. THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT●       An introduction to Peter O’Dwyer●       How clinical trials have changed over time●       The evolving area of genomic tests●       Why Next Generation Sequencing should be considered●       A Summary of the NCI-MATCH Trial●       How to improve activity●       Corporate approved settings could be optimal setting for studies●       Advice for clinicians on Next Generation Sequencing●       Improvements in treatment for pancreatic cancerGUEST DETAILSPeter J. O’Dwyer, MD, is a GI medical oncologist, Group Co-Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, and professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Within ECOG-ACRIN, he co-chairs the landmark NCI-MATCH precision medicine cancer trial. He is also the CEO of PrECOG, which develops and leads cancer clinical trials in partnership with industry.Dr. O’Dwyer received his medical degree at the University of Dublin, Trinity College. Dr. O’Dwyer has published over 350 scientific papers, and participates in numerous national and international organisations.https://ecog-acrin.org/about-us/governance/peter-odwyer/MORE INFORMATIONCancer Trials Ireland is a registered charity and the leading cancer research trials organisation in Ireland. It aims to provide every patient with cancer access to high-quality and potentially life-altering cancer trials and to make Ireland a highly attractive location to open cancer trials.Since 2000, 623 cancer trials have opened in Ireland, with more than 33,500 patients taking part. In 2022, a survey of public attitudes revealed three in five people in Ireland would take part in a clinical trial. Almost all cancer clinical trials available in Ireland are listed on the Cancer Trials Ireland website: www.cancertrials.ie/open-trials.Cancer Trials Ireland is partly funded by the Health Research Board and the Irish Cancer Society. It also receives income from pharmaceutical companies and international research groups, as well as through philanthropic giving and donations from members of the public.Since 2017, Cancer Trials Ireland has rolled out an annual campaign (Just Ask) to promote public awareness and understanding of clinical trials and associated issues. Just Ask 2023 is support through unrestricted grants from AbbVie, Bayer, MSD, Novartis, & Pfizer.KEYWORDS#clinicaltrials, #cancerireland #tumors #genomic #immunotherapy #pancreatic cancer

Cancer research is one of the most challenging yet rewarding careers we know of. To give you the inside track on what it is like to work at Cancer Trials Ireland, CEO Eibhlín Mulroe shares her own story about how she got involved and the big changes she has seen in the last ten years or so.THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUTWhere the teams passion comes fromWhy the organisation values talent so muchThe pervasive feeling of ‘fighting the good fight’What CTI offers as an employerThe challenges faced by Cancer Trials IrelandGUEST DETAILSEibhlín has a successful history in the not-for-profit health sector working with cancer trials, patient advocacy and the pharmaceuticals industry. She joined Cancer Trials Ireland in 2015 and overseen huge change and growth in her time as CEO. Her outside interests include Canoeing Ireland, member of Boardmatch and Member of the Board of Mindful Nation Ireland.MORE INFORMATIONCancer Trials Ireland is a registered charity and the leading cancer research trials organisation in Ireland. It aims to provide every patient with cancer access to high-quality and potentially life-altering cancer trials and to make Ireland a highly attractive location to open cancer trials. Since 2000, 623 cancer trials have opened in Ireland, with more than 33,500 patients taking part. In 2022, a survey of public attitudes revealed three in five people in Ireland would take part in a clinical trial. Almost all cancer clinical trials available in Ireland are listed on the Cancer Trials Ireland website: www.cancertrials.ie/open-trials. Cancer Trials Ireland is partly funded by the Health Research Board and the Irish Cancer Society. It also receives income from pharmaceutical companies and international research groups, as well as through philanthropic giving and donations from members of the public.Since 2017, Cancer Trials Ireland has rolled out an annual campaign (Just Ask) to promote public awareness and understanding of clinical trials and associated issues. Just Ask 2023 is support through an unrestricted grants from AbbVie, Bayer, MSD, Novartis, & Pfizer.KEYWORDS#clinicaltrials, #cancerireland

Our guests today include Dr Dearbhaile Collins, Tanya Knott and Claire Bermingham. DearbhaileColllins is a medical oncologist, and also the Clinical Lead for the Cancer Trials Ireland MolecularTumour Board.Tanya Knott represents patients on the Molecular Tumour Board steering committee. She’s also aDirector of the SJK Foundation, which was founded in honour of Tanya’s sister Sarah Jennifer Knott,who died of CUP, Cancer of Unknown Primary, aged 31.Our last guest is Claire Bermingham, who co-ordinates the Molecular Tumour Board in Cancer TrialsIreland.THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUTHow the MTB works and success with patientsNext Generation SequencingThe cost of going privateSarah Jennifer Knotts story and the work of the foundationHow doctors can have MTB review casesMORE INFORMATIONhttps://sjkfoundation.org/about-us/https://www.cancertrials.ie/molecular-tumor-board/

Eibhlín Mulroe talks to Prof Sean Dinneen, a Consultant Endocrinologist based in Galway & NUIG. They discuss Public & Patient Involvement. “(Patients) have been co-researchers, and co-investigators,” says Prof Dinneen. “They have been a huge part of what we have achieved over the years, and we have completed and published a pilot of a random control trial of that intervention... Recognising early on that we (healthcare professionals) were not going to crack this on our own is how I got involved in PPI and it has been one of the most rewarding things I have done.”

Prof Austin Duffy explains the nature of pancreatic cancer and the particular challenges of treating it - and how a new study (PATCH) hopes to address some of these challenges, thanks to the Pat Smullen Fund. He is followed by Anna Shevlin of Cancer Trials Ireland, who outlines the other ways that the Pat Smullen Fund has contributed to pancreatic cancer studies. NOTE: This episode was recorded on Oct 28th. Since that time, a study discussed in the podcast (Paricalcitol) was closed to recruitment following an interim statistical analysis.

Dr Ana Terrés and Eibhlín Mulroe (CEO, Cancer Trials Ireland) have a conversation about health research in Ireland, beginning with the publication of a National Framework for Governance, Management and Support of Health Research. Along the way, Dr Terrés describes her own path into health research, and her current role, and what she does to de-stress (including inflatable paddle-boarding!)