In The Headlines: Back to “business as usual” at FDA?

The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee held its first session since President Trump’s inauguration, with a two-day, back-to-back marathon meeting, signaling a return to business at FDA after significant upheaval at the agency.

In this episode of The Cancer Letter Podcast, Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter and Jacquelyn Cobb, associate editor, talk about Jacquelyn’s coverage of the ODAC “marathon.”

“We've definitely talked about how, maybe two or three podcasts ago, the idea that what we would give to just cover an ODAC, and then the universe was like, ‘Here's four,’” Jacquelyn said.

“What was really interesting is that they were able to handle all that, and we have no idea how many people really are remaining at FDA in parts of FDA oncology,” Paul said. “It didn't get too badly clobbered, although from what I understand, the middle level, kind of like people who are between the OCE director and the medical reviewers, they're sort of all gone. They've all moved on or mostly gone, so it's a different game, but it also tells you how important it is to have this agency and to have this function, to have the vision. 

“I don't know where we are in all of this, but it's nice to know that as of last week, things functioned.”

Stories mentioned in this podcast include:

• ODAC marathon: Committee charges through a pileup of clinical questions in a two-day, four-application session

• Guest editorial by Peter Nelson: Biden’s diagnosis is unfortunate but—statistically—not surprising. Of the 384 men serving in Congress, 48 are likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. 

• Guest editorial by Eric Lefkofsky and Norman E. Sharpless: Unlocking the future of precision medicine: The untapped power of RNA

• A new AI tool enables speedy use of ASCO guidelines, eliminating typical errors

• PAMN becomes CMCA—the Cancer Marketing & Communications Association—as its size and scope expand

• The faces of RIF: Staff members of NCI’s dissolved communications team gather for a farewell group photo]

• FDA Commissioner Makary holds roundtable discussion on harms of talc

• Prasad’s stricter FDA policy for COVID-19 vaccines could limit future access 

  A transcript of this podcast is available: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/2025028-odac/