ASTRO 2024 Features Sylvester Researchers
With several posters, oral presentations and special sessions, Sylvester will have a strong presence at this year’s annual conference.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology’s annual meeting is the world’s premier scientific gathering for radiation oncology professionals, drawing experts from across the globe to present groundbreaking research and innovations. ASTRO 2024 will showcase leading-edge advances in cancer treatment, patient care and radiation science.
This year, radiation oncologists from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, will take center stage to deliver pivotal presentations that highlight their ongoing contributions to the field. In addition, two researchers will be honored as ASTRO 2024 Fellows.
“I am incredibly proud of the expertise and dedication our team brings to this year’s ASTRO conference. Their presentations reflect our commitment to advancing cancer care and improving patient outcomes,” said Markus Bredel, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Miller School’s Department of Radiation Oncology. “I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from our colleagues across the field as we continue to explore innovative ways to help patients overcome cancer.”
The presentations from Sylvester will cover a range of critical topics, from innovative treatment modalities to personalized approaches that are transforming cancer care.
Select presentations include the following speakers:
Olga Maria Dona Lemus, Ph.D.
“CBCT-Based ART: Revolutionizing Radiotherapy with Artificial Intelligence and Advanced X-Ray Imaging”
Dr. Lemus will present as part of a larger educational session devoted to the basic scientific innovations, translational physics developments and clinical deployments of adaptive radiotherapy workflows for the improvement of patient treatments and outcomes.
The speakers include physicists, physicians and a dosimetrist from multiple institutions where adaptive radiotherapy techniques have been developed and deployed for clinical treatments, representing both photon and proton therapy and CBCT, MR, and PET imaging systems.
Jonathan Bell, M.D., Ph.D.
“Defining the Occult Margin in Recurrent Glioblastoma Using Spectroscopic MRI: Implications for Radiation Therapy Volumes”
Sylvester researcher Eric Mellon, M.D., will present for Dr. Bell.
According to the research, overall survival is improved in glioblastoma (GBM) by multimodality therapy, including surgical resection and adjuvant radiation (RT). In primary GBM (pGBM), a classic problem is the delineation of the infiltrating microscopic tumor margin for focal therapies. In recurrent GBM (rGBM), the imaging is further confounded by changes from the pGBM treatments. As a result, rGBM is often not given RT due to confusing imaging or delivered with a tiny clinical target volume (CTV) that is likely missing high-risk, non-enhancing tumors due to fears about re-RT radiation necrosis.
Whole-brain spectroscopic MRI (sMRI) is an emerging MRI technique with similar resolution to brain PET that can detect native metabolites and has been applied to define CTV in pGBM. The aim was to determine whether it may also be useful in defining the CTV for rGBM.
Nipun Merchant, M.D.
“Best Practices in the Surgical Approach of Borderline Resectable and Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer and Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma”
The complexity of patients with pancreatic cancer and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma requires a personalized and multidisciplinary approach to define how to best combine the different disciplines in each clinical situation. Dr. Merchant will present during an invited talk as part of a larger educational session that will feature several other presentations, which will discuss the current state of the art in the management of pancreato-biliary cancers with an emphasis on innovative therapeutic strategies.
Kaylie Cullison, Ph.D.
“Comparison of MRI-Linac to Standalone MRI Volumes in Glioblastoma: Implications for Adaptive Radiotherapy and Contrast Imaging”
According to Dr. Cullison’s research, contrast MRI after chemoradiotherapy (chemoRT) shows areas of possible tumor growth in about 50% of glioblastoma patients compared to pre-RT, but changes during chemoRT are rarely investigated due to the logistics of frequent, standalone MRI. Daily MRI is feasible with MRI-linac, but the frequency of gadolinium contrast imaging for adaptive RT remains undefined.
To identify the need for contrast during chemoRT, Dr. Cullison and colleagues analyzed findings on MRI-linac T2-weighted (T2) MRI and compared those to standalone T1-post contrast (T1+C) and T2 MRI.
Fellow of ASTRO Honors
Sylvester radiation oncologists Laura Freedman, M.D., and Cristiane Takita, M.D., M.B.A., will be honored with the prestigious Fellow of ASTRO (FASTRO) designation at the 2024 ASTRO annual meeting. This distinguished recognition is awarded to ASTRO members who have made significant contributions to the field of radiation oncology through research, education, patient care, leadership and dedicated service to the society.
The FASTRO title is reserved for individuals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing the practice of radiation oncology, with nominations made by current fellows and endorsements from leading experts in the field.
Tags: ASTRO, cancer imaging, cancer research, Dr. Markus Bredel, glioblastoma research, pancreatic cancer, Sylverster Comprehensive Cancer Center