WORD of HOPE Ovarian Cancer Podcast. Episode 06, Topic 8 of 10.This is the sixth episode in the series of "10 Exciting Ovarian Research Topics from 2010". This episode focuses on Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and the importance of getting to a Gynecologic Oncologist when treating Ovarian Cancer. Be sure to look for the remaining topics of this series in subsequent episodes of WORD of HOPE Ovarian Cancer Podcast. For show notes, links, info, and how to subscribe, visit: www.wordofhopepodcast.com


WORDofHOPE ep06 topic8of10

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Dr. Muhammed Murtaza and Dr. Thomas Slavin about liquid biopsies 

Murtaza is Assistant Professor and co-Director of the Center for Noninvasive Diagnostics at TGen in Phoenix, AZ, and Dr. Slavin is Assistant Clinical Professor, Departments of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research and Population Sciences, Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, California.

Hofland talks with Murtaza and Slavin specifically about a test called TARDIS — which stands for TARgeted DIgital Sequencing. This test, according to a study published earlier this year, is as much as 100 times more sensitive than other blood-based cancer monitoring tests. TARDIS is a “liquid biopsy” that specifically identifies and quantifies small fragments of cancer DNA circulating in the patient’s bloodstream, known as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).
 
About Onco'Zine
The Onco’Zine Brief is developed in collaboration with the online journal, Onco’Zine at www.oncozine.com - where you can find additional information and the latest news about cancer, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and cancer prevention.

How to support The Onco'Zine Brief
For more information about supporting The Onco’Zine Brief, check our online journal Onco’Zine at www.Onco’Zine.com or visit Patreaon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief

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If you’re living in the United States and want to receive our Newsletter, text the word CANCER to 66866 - and we’ll make sure that you’ll receive our newsletter which includes an overview of the latest news in oncology and hematology.

For more information about TARgeted DIgital Sequencing (TARDIS):
- Garcia D. Federal Grant helps TGen Refine Cancer-detection Blood Tests for Breast Cancer Patients. Onco'Zine - October 15, 2019 - https://www.oncozine.com/federal-grant-helps-tgen-refine-cancer-detection-blood-tests-for-breast-cancer-patients/
- Hofland P. New ‘Liquid Biopsy’ Helps to Improve Breast Cancer Diagnostics and Avoid Unnecessary Surgeries - August 8, 2019 - https://www.oncozine.com/new-liquid-biopsy-helps-improves-breast-cancer-diagnostics-and-avoid-unnecessary-surgeries/

TARDIS - A Simple Blood Draw to Determining a Patient’s Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy

The therapeutic landscape in melanoma is evolving rapidly. In this podcast, Jonathan Lim (a member of the ESMO Young Oncologists Committee) interviews Dr Teresa Amaral (the current chair of the ESMO Young Oncologists Committee and an expert in melanoma) for an update on the current practice and advances in adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies in melanoma. 
Dr Amaral summarises key practice-changing studies which have established the current recommendations in this field, including CheckMate 238, KEYNOTE 054, COMBI-AD, Combi-Neo, NeoCombi and opACIN-neo. We also deliberated on the toxicity profile of these therapies, and currently available evidence of neoadjuvant versus adjuvant therapies. Finally, we addressed how COVID-19 has affected the delivery of adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies in patients with melanoma.

Further reading:
CheckMate 238 – https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1709030 
KEYNOTE 054 – https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1802357
EORTC18071 – https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(15)70122-1
Mixture-Cure Modeling in CheckMate 238 – https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdz255
COMBI-AD – https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1708539
Combi-Neo – https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30015-9
NeoCombi – https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30331-6
OpACIN-neo – https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30151-2

Adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies in melanoma

The cover for Issue 42 of Oncotarget features Figure 4, "Generation of parametric and texture maps from radiofrequency data," recently published in "Quantitative ultrasound radiomics using texture derivatives in prediction of treatment response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer" by Dasgupta, et al. which reported that to investigate quantitative ultrasound based higher-order texture derivatives in predicting the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Three machine learning algorithms based on linear discriminant, k-nearest-neighbors, and support vector machine were used for developing radiomic models of response prediction.

The most helpful features in separating the two response groups were QUS-Tex1-Tex2 features.

The 5-year recurrence-free survival calculated for KNN predicted responders and non-responders using QUS-Tex1-Tex2 model was comparable to RFS for the actual response groups.

The Oncotarget authors report the first study demonstrating QUS texture-derivative methods in predicting NAC responses in LABC, which leads to better results compared to using texture features alone.

Dr. Gregory J. Czarnota from The Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, The University of Toronto, The Sunnybrook Research Institute, as well as York University said, "Breast cancer is the second most common cancer globally in terms of incidence, comprising 11.6% of all new cancers and is the 5th leading cause of mortality attributed to 6.6% of all cancer deaths."

Imaging modalities like ultrasonography, mammography, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography are commonly used in response monitoring of NAC, which primarily considers long-term size related changes of the disease.

Radiofrequency data from QUS provides valuable information compared to conventional B-mode ultrasound imaging, where there is a loss of crucial details involved with instrument-based signal processing. The analysis of the power spectra from ultrasound RF data can be used to determine quantitative parameters, which include average scatterer diameter, average acoustic concentration, mid-band fit, spectral slope, spectral 0-MHz intercept.

The spatial distribution of features within QUS parametric images can be further studied using grey-level co-occurrence matrix analyses, which represent the angular relationship and distance between neighboring pixels.

In the study here, higher-order imaging features in the form of QUS texture-derivatives have been determined from pretreatment QUS data for patients with LABC undergoing NAC to predict treatment response.

The Czarnota Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research paper that QUS is a simple, easily accessible imaging modality, with similar scanning techniques akin to the B-mode US, which is widely used in clinical practice.

With appropriate data processing, it is possible to use the information normally processed to generate B-mode images to obtain additional information from tumors. These are related to tumor acoustic properties, which can be linked with biological features and clinical behavior. In this research, we established the role of higher-order imaging analysis (radiomics) of QUS in predicting treatment response to NAC involving 100 patients with LABC.

The work provides a framework for using QUS-radiomics in clinical practice to choose appropriate chemotherapy regimens or other treatment modalities like upfront surgery (in predicted chemo-resistant tumors), leading the way towards personalized oncology.

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DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27742

Full text - https://www.oncotarget.com/article/27742/text/

Correspondence to - Gregory J. Czarnota - gregory.czarnota@sunnybrook.ca

Keywords - radiomics, breast cancer, texture derivatives, quantitative ultrasound, neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Oncotarget - Generation Of Parametric And Texture Maps From Radiofrequency Data

Oncotarget is a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal. Papers are published continuously within yearly volumes in their final and complete form and then quickly released to Pubmed.

Oncotarget is now indexed by MEDLINE, PubMed and PMC/PubMed.

Read about the Oncotarget Scientific Integrity Process: https://www.oncotarget.com/scientific_integrity/

Peter Hofland, Ph.D. is the host of The Onco'Zine Brief, a radio show/podcast especially designed for the community of medical and healthcare professionals in oncology and hematology as well as cancer patients, their families, and caregivers. 

In the show, Hofland talks about the latest researcher, developments, and news in cancer and cancer treatment. They also interview physicians, world-renowned researchers, Key Opinion Leaders/Experts, and Key Stakeholders who share the common objective of preventing cancer, fostering a favorable environment for scientific research, and advocating for equal access to high-quality cancer treatment, and educate cancer patients and their friends and family.

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