Seth M. Pollack, assistant professor, Division of Oncology, University of Washington, and attending physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the future treatment paradigm of soft tissue sarcoma.

Regarding radiomics, Pollack envisions this novel treatment approach will have a role in the future.

Additionally, Pollack says that he is very excited for the field of sarcoma to move toward immunotherapy in the next 5 to 10 years. The data from SARC028, which investigated treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) holds promise for patients with pleomorphic undifferentiated sarcoma. Another ongoing clinical trial is exploring the combination trial of doxorubicin plus pembrolizumab, which also is exciting, Pollack adds.

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Dr. Pollack on the Future Treatment Landscape for Sarcoma

Seth M. Pollack, MD, assistant professor, Division of Oncology, University of Washington, and attending physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the potential impact that radiomics could have on the treatment landscape of sarcoma.

Radiomics is still somewhat of a brand new field, says Pollack, and researchers are only just beginning to scratch the surface. Although radiomics does not currently have an established role in the management of patients, its potential application this space is still exciting.

Radiomics works by quantifying complex aspects of tumor images related to tumor biology. Pollack explains that it is essentially a way to look at images that takes the viewer out of it, allowing the computer to look for elements to the radiologic files that a person wouldn’t be able to see.

In terms of the potential clinical impact of this tool, he says this could represent a promising method for predicting patient outcomes. Once radiomics is validated in a reliable way, then the exciting work will ensue, in which researchers can use these predictive features to choose which treatment a patient is best suited for.

Dr. Pollack on the Potential Impact of Radiomics on the Sarcoma Treatment Landscape

Seth M. Pollack, assistant professor, Division of Oncology, University of Washington, and attending physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the role of radiomics in the treatment landscape of sarcoma.

Radiomics, which is a fairly new field of study, quantifies complex aspects of tumor images related to tumor biology. Prior research has validated its use in predicting patient outcomes in lung and head and neck cancers.

According to Pollack, sarcoma may be an ideal treatment landscape in which to study radiomics because so many patients with this disease already undergo MRIs as part of their overall treatment. This essentially provided the rationale for examining radiomics in this particular patient population.

In his research, Pollack found that, after patients' tumor images were analyzed through a list of radiomic features, the model that was made to predict outcomes was extremely accurate. In fact, it was found to be more accurately predictive than other standard factors, such as those based on tumor grade, tumor size, and other clinical features.

Next steps, says Pollack, should move to validate these data in other patient cohorts.

Seth M. Pollack, MD

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Dr. Pollack on the Future Treatment Landscape for Sarcoma

Dr. Pollack on the Potential Impact of Radiomics on the Sarcoma Treatment Landscape

Dr. Pollack on the Role of Radiomics in Sarcoma