Speaker Profile
JR., M.D., Professor, Division Chief, Stanford University Medical Center
Biography
Dr. George W. Sledge, Jr., M.D. is Professor and Chief of Medical Oncology at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Sledge served as a Ballve-Lantero Professor of Oncology of Medicine and Pathology of Indiana University School of Medicine. He served as Co-Director of the breast cancer program at the Indiana University Cancer Center, where he was a Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center. Dr. Sledge specializes in the study and treatment of breast cancer and directed the first large, nationwide study on the use of paclitaxel to treat advanced breast cancer. His recent research focuses on novel biologic treatments for breast cancer. He served as a Professor of Indiana University Cancer Center Breast Cancer Program. He has also served as the chair of ASCO’s Education Committee, as a member of the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program’s Integration Panel, as a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC), and as a member of the External Advisory Committee for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. Dr. Sledge was awarded the Hope Funds for Cancer Research 2013 Award of ‘Excellence for Medicine’. He holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and an M.D. from Tulane University.
Talk
Tissue-Agnostic Drug Approvals
Recently we saw FDA approvals of tissue- or tumor-agnostic drugs which seems to indicate a paradigm shift in cancer treatment. This includes drugs that are selective inhibitors of NTRK fusion-proteins in solid tumors as well as the approval of checkpoint inhibitor therapy for MSI-high cancers. This session will focus on the promises and challenges of these kinds of drugs for cancer therapy.
