Jacob Sands, MD

Jacob Sands, MD, is associate chief of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology and oncology medical director of the International Patient Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; as well as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School

Articles

Navigating Disease Progression During and After Durvalumab: Expert Insights

June 30th 2025

Panelists discussed the importance of close monitoring during consolidation durvalumab in LS-SCLC—especially for pneumonitis risk—and noted that relapse management is shifting away from routine platinum rechallenge toward more personalized use of newer agents like lurbinectedin and tarlatamab, based on timing, tolerability, and individual patient factors.

Multidisciplinary Approaches to Managing LS-SCLC: Immunotherapy, Paraneoplastic Syndromes, and Post-CCRT Care

June 23rd 2025

Panelists emphasized that while timely initiation of durvalumab post chemoradiation is ideal in LS-SCLC, consistent with ADRIATIC trial protocols, patient recovery and multidisciplinary input—especially in cases involving treatment-related toxicity or neurologic comorbidities—are essential to guide safe, individualized decision-making.

Panel Insights: Interpreting ADRIATIC Outcomes and Tailoring LS-SCLC Treatment

June 23rd 2025

Panelists agreed the ADRIATIC trial is practice-changing for limited-stage small cell lung cancer, establishing durvalumab as the new standard post chemoradiation due to its significant survival benefit and manageable toxicity, while also highlighting the need for multidisciplinary coordination and raising questions about agent selection and evolving radiation strategies.

Phase 1 trial of DLL3/CD3 IgG-Like T-Cell Engager BI 764532 in Patients with DLL3 Positive Tumors: Patients with LCNEC

June 3rd 2025

Jacob Sands, MD, presents promising early-phase trial results for obrixtamig, a novel DLL3-targeting T-cell engager, in patients with large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung (LCNEC-L), shared at ESMO Congress 2024.

Unmet Needs and Future Perspectives of RET-Positive NSCLC

January 15th 2025

Panelists discuss the unmet needs and future perspectives in the treatment of RET-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), focusing on areas for improvement in therapy and the potential for new treatment strategies.

Monitoring Patients With RET-Positive NSCLC

January 15th 2025

Panelists discuss how to monitor patients for response to treatment and early signs of resistance in RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including the approach to follow-up molecular testing, and describe strategies for treatment sequencing after disease progression on RET inhibitors.

Managing RET Inhibitor Treatment-Related Adverse Events

January 8th 2025

Panelists discuss the common adverse effects for patients receiving selpercatinib or pralsetinib, strategies for managing these effects, and whether differences in the safety profiles of these drugs influence treatment choices for RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer.

Role of Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy in RET-Positive NSCLC

January 8th 2025

Panelists discuss the situations in which other first-line therapies, such as cabozantinib or PD-L1–positive chemotherapy options, might be considered for RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and compare the role of chemotherapy and immunotherapy to that of RET inhibitors in this setting.

Considerations for First-Line Targeted Therapies in Metastatic RET-Positive NSCLC

January 1st 2025

Panelists discuss the specific factors that influence the decision to initiate one of the NCCN guideline–preferred RET inhibitors, selpercatinib or pralsetinib, over the other in the treatment of RET fusion–positive NSCLC.

Patient and Therapy Considerations Guiding Initiation of Treatment in RET-Positive NSCLC

January 1st 2025

Panelists discuss their initial impressions of a patient case with RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), treatment goals for newly diagnosed patients, and the key patient and disease characteristics considered when selecting a first-line treatment regimen.

Initial Approach to Management of RET-Positive NSCLC

December 25th 2024

Panelists discuss the initial approach to the management of RET-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), focusing on treatment strategies and the role of targeted therapies such as RET inhibitors in first-line treatment.

Clinical-Decision Making: When to Treat Advanced NSCLC Without Mutational Results

December 25th 2024

Panelists discuss how to balance the need for comprehensive biomarker testing with the urgency to initiate treatment in patients with advanced disease and explore situations where treatment might be started before test results are available.

Practical Considerations in Metastatic NSCLC: Access and Timing of Testing

December 17th 2024

Panelists discuss strategies for clinicians without access to in-house molecular testing, focusing on how to ensure appropriate turnaround times when outsourcing tests and share insights on the typical timeline for receiving biomarker testing results at their respective institutions.

Testing Methodologies and Standards in Metastatic NSCLC

December 17th 2024

Panelists discuss the various tests available for detecting genetic mutations in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including next-generation sequencing (NGS), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and Sanger sequencing, and explore whether one method is considered the “gold standard” according to the NCCN guidelines. They also address the appropriate use of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing, comparing it to tissue testing in this disease state.

Next Steps to Stage IIIB NSCLC Patient Case Awaiting Molecular Testing and Usability of Liquid Biopsy

December 10th 2024

Panelists discuss how molecular testing is crucial in guiding treatment for advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), emphasizing the prevalence of mutations like BRAF, KRAS, MET, RET, and EGFR, and their impact on selecting targeted therapies.

Patient Case: 67 Year-Old Male With Stage IIIB+ NSCLC Awaiting for Mutation Testing

December 10th 2024

Panelists discuss how the treatment approach for a 67-year-old man with stage IIIB+ non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) awaiting mutation testing involves balancing the urgency of initiating therapy with the importance of molecular testing to guide targeted treatment decisions.

Dr Sands on Updated Efficacy Findings With Tarlatamab in Previously Treated SCLC

October 10th 2024

Jacob Sands, MD, discusses updated efficacy findings with tarlatamab treatment in previously treated patients with small cell lung cancer.

Dr Sands on Consolidation Durvalumab as a Potential New SOC for LS-SCLC After Chemoradiation

September 27th 2024

Jacob Sands, MD, discusses consolidation therapy durvalumab as a new standard of care in limited-stage small cell lung cancer.

Dr Sands on the Evolving Role of ADCs in SCLC Management

July 25th 2024

Jacob Sands, MD, discusses updates to the role of antibody-drug conjugates in the treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer.

Datopotamab Deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) in Patients With Previously Treated Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) – Nonsquamous (NSQ) Histology in the Phase 3 TROPION-Lung01 Trial

April 9th 2024

Jacob Sands, MD, shares updated data from the phase 3 TROPION-Lung01 trial of datopotamab deruxtecan versus docetaxel in non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer recently presented at the 2024 European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC).