Dr. Demetri on the Evolving Field of Sarcoma

George D. Demetri, MD, senior vice president for Experimental Therapeutics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and co-director of the Ludwig Center at Harvard, discusses the evolving and advancing field of sarcoma.

Providing patients with more precise sarcoma diagnoses helps better drive treatment decisions and appropriately matches patients with clinical trials. This mindset has translated into other tumor types, as well, Demetri explains.

Additionally, targeted therapies such as TREK-1 inhibitors are showing promise as a potential treatment for patients with sarcoma. Findings from clinical trials examining immunotherapeutic agents in this patient population are likely to be presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, he adds.

Sarcoma is also leading the way in the epigenetic space; for example, subtypes including malignant rhabdoid tumors, synovial sarcomas, and epithelioid sarcomas could be treated with H2 inhibitors. Additionally, the breakthrough therapy designation of the affinity enhanced T-cell therapy is “the tip of the iceberg,” in this realm of research, Demetri says.