CIO 2019 Reports Trends in Interventional Oncology

Areas ranging from immuno-oncology to artificial intelligence are poised to shape the future of care. The first day of the Symposium on Clinical Interventional Oncology featured a session focusing on emerging trends in interventional oncology. 

Michael Zinner, MD, founding CEO and executive medical director of Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida, began the session by reviewing the role of interventional oncology in a cancer center. Miami Cancer Center is of the new “breed” of cancer centers known as a “hybrid” or “clinical academic center.”

“Interventional oncology is important at every level of care of the cancer patient. It must be part of the fabric of a major cancer center,” Dr. Zinner said.

Interventional oncology plays a key role in diagnostic, supportive, and therapeutic domains and is considered a pillar of cancer care at Miami Cancer Center, he noted. Interventional procedures are minimally invasive, can be repeated, and do not preclude any other treatment, making them a vital therapeutic option.

Daniel Sze, MD, PhD, Stanford University Medical Center, discussed the rationale of immuno-oncology and reviewed checkpoint inhibitors, cell-based therapies, and oncolytic immunotherapies. He gave background information on mechanisms underlying successful medications such as ipilimumab, which was approved by the FDA in 2011. He explained that immunotherapy is exciting and efficacious, but shows long-term benefit for only 15% to 20% of patients. As a result, there are unmet needs within immunotherapy, which presents an opportunity for interventional radiologists to devise solutions for those needs. By doing so, interventional radiologists can be key players in multidisciplinary cancer immunotherapy.

Jeff Boyd, PhD, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, spoke on how tissue banking and genomic testing will change oncology. His take-home message was that genomic medicine is not a futuristic practice but is currently changing how oncology is practiced in real time. He reviewed the human genome project and next-generation sequencing technologies that have made the advances of today possible, and he showed the audience the equipment the Miami Cancer Institute currently uses for rapid sequencing.

Artificial intelligence and its implications for interventional oncology were the final focus, covered in a session by Jean-Francois H. Geschwind, MD, USA Vein Clinics, Vascular, Fibroid and Oncology Centers Founder, PreScienceLabs/Cage Pharma.

“Artificial intelligence in medicine is here to stay,” said Dr. Geschwind.

Dr. Geschwind described how deep learning and machine learning are both parts of artificial intelligence. Machine learning depends on structured data that the computer can use to answer a binary question, such as whether a tumor is malignant or benign. However, machine learning is unable to understand complex issues, which is where deep learning comes into play. For both types of artificial intelligence, excellent raw data is needed in order to train algorithms.

“Both machine learning and deep learning are helpful, but are only as good as the data that is used to generate the data in the first place,” Dr. Geschwind explained. “The inroads into IR are here to stay, but we need good data.”

About the Symposium on Clinical Interventional Oncology (CIO)

Renowned for its originality, practicality, and focus on improving patient care, CIO, an HMP event, highlights the most viable and sought-after treatments in the rapidly expanding field of interventional oncology. CIO is led by course directors Ripal Gandhi, MD; Ziv Haskal, MD; Constantino Peña, MD; Daniel Sze, MD; and Alda Tam, MD. The program contains a mix of didactic lectures, case presentations and debates between experts, hands-on workshops, and pre-recorded cases woven together with audience interactivity through polling and question and answer sessions. For more information, visit theiomeeting.com. 

About HMP 

HMP is the force behind Healthcare Made Practical – and is a multichannel leader in health care events and education, with a mission to improve patient care. The company produces accredited medical education events and clinically relevant, evidence-based content for the global health care community across a range of therapeutic areas. Its brands include Consultant360, the year-round, award-winning platform relied upon by primary care providers and other specialists; Psych Congress, the largest independent mental health meeting in the U.S.; EMS World Expo, North America’s largest EMT and paramedic event; and the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC), the largest wound care meeting in the world. For more information, visit hmpglobal.com.