Collaboration, Intralesional Therapies for Skin Cancer, with Laura K. Ferris, MD, PhD, and Neal Bhatia, MD

In a recent interview with the HCPLive editorial team at the 2024 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, the team spoke with the presenters of the conference talk ‘Beyond the Biopsy: Other Methods To Help Us Manage Skin Cancer’ and asked about the need for collaboration between dermatologists and oncologists.

The team spoke with Laura Korb Ferris, MD, PhD, professor at the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute and director of the clinical trials unit, and Neal Bhatia, MD, director of clinical dermatology at Therapeutics Clinical Research and chief medical editor for Practical Dermatology.

“I think one of the things we all learned through the pandemic is how much we can get done, even working virtually,” Ferris said. “Even having multidisciplinary tumor boards that are through an online platform is certainly a more feasible option and something that's easier to do now. I also think having your preferred referral networks and teams and trusted colleagues is important. I think we're moving in that direction.”

Bhatia concurred, noting the value of getting the point across dermatologists ‘in the trenches’ in private practice. He added that not all clinicians access to a tumor board or even go to the hospital anymore.

“But to have some visibility with the oncologist and remind them that we can all work together is important,” Bhatia said. “You know, saying ‘I have patients to send and we want to still be involved.’ I think the biggest risk is when we just give the patients up and they get lost in the system, or if you send them to a bigger institution, they'll just see the dermatologist there. And you lose your touch with patients. So we really don't want that to happen.”

Bhatia and Ferris were later asked about recent intralesional therapies as well as the pipeline.

“The 2 most promising intralesional therapies currently in trials…1 is called VP315, which is an oncolytic peptide that's injectable right into a basal cell tumor and it's a series of injections that creates not only a shrinkage directly by necrosis…So it's pretty exciting technology. Then the other is intralesional cemiplimab itself.”

Both of these therapies, Bhatia said, will give dermatologists an advantage on adjunct treatment and shrinking the tumor in front of clinicians.

To receive additional information on this subject, view the full interview segment with Bhatia and Ferris posted above. To find out more about data covered at the conference, check out the latest coverage of Fall Clinical.

The quotes implemented in this interview description were edited for clarity.