Dr. Kiran Turaga on Advancements in Classification, Imaging in Sarcoma

Kiran Turaga, MD, MPH, surgical oncologist, University of Chicago Cancer Center, discusses advancements in the field of sarcoma.

Both phylogeneticaly and evolutionarily sarcomas can now be classified into broad groups.

They used to be classified by histology; if they are more like muscles or rhabdomyosarcoma, or they are more like fats or liposarcomas. However, it is now understood that there are certain groups of sarcomas that are closer to each other, versus certain groups of sarcomas that are further apart, says Turaga. By grouping these tumors together, it is easier to understand how to treat them.

There have also been advances in imaging, especially diffusion-weighted imaging for retroperitoneal sarcomas, says Turaga.

Diffusion-weighted imaging relies on the water content of cells and improves the ability to detect some areas of malignancy and potentially guide biopsies and pretreatment paradigms.