Dear Readers,
The 6th Annual CCA Summit held October 17-19, 2024, in Lost Pines, TX, was a very informational meeting and is one of the key scientific meetings in biliary tract cancers (BTCs). This year’s summit was chaired by Bruno C. Odisio, MD, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, and featured significant highlights in the areas of surgery, medicine, interventional radiology, and radiation oncology, presented by prominent leaders in the field.
The meeting included discussions of novel therapies, such as updates in chemotherapy presented by Madhulika Eluri, MD; targeted therapies presented by Adel Kardosh, MD, PhD; targeted protein degradation presented by Filip Janku, MD, PhD; antibody–drug conjugates presented by Sarina A. Piha-Paul, MD; and liver-directed therapies such as histotripsy presented by Joseph M. Herman, MD, MSHCM. These presentations described cutting-edge therapies to improve outcomes for patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).
Different modalities of surgery were presented at this year’s summit. Hop Tran Cao, MD, FACS, presented on minimally invasive resection for hilar CCA. Alexander Parikh, MD, MPH, FACS, FSSO, presented on the best approach for treating resectable intrahepatic CCA and compared neoadjuvant, perioperative, and adjuvant treatments in patients with perihilar CCA undergoing resection. Lastly, Ryan Fields, MD, FACS, presented on how to integrate adjuncts into surgery to improve surgical resection rates. Dr Fields discussed techniques including portal vein embolization, hepatic vein embolization, and liver venous deprivation.
Another session of interest was on locoregional therapies in which Joshua Kuban, MD, FSIR, discussed interventional therapies for CCA, and Eugene Koay, MD, PhD, discussed stereotactic body radiation therapy. Dr Kuban discussed the use of radioembolization using yttrium-90, as well as percutaneous interventional techniques with a focus on microwave ablation. These therapies can be offered in conjunction with systemic therapy, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors.
There were also multiple crossfire debates in which the role of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring for BTC was debated on between Laura Goff, MD, MSCI, MMHC, who presented the pros of using ctDNA, and Jingquan Jia, MD, PhD, who presented the cons of using ctDNA in patients with CCA. It was also debated on whether surgery (Ashton A. Connor, MD, PhD), liver transplant (Keri E. Lunsford, MD, PhD, FACS), or intra-arterial infusion pump (Alice C. Wei, MD, MSc, FRCSC) should be used to treat localized multifocal intrahepatic CCA. In another crossfire debate, presenters Maria A. Hawkins, MD, FRCR, MRCP, and Jordan Berlin, MD, debated on the role of consolidative radiotherapy in locally advanced CCA, with Dr Berlin debating for the role of consolidative radiotherapy and Dr Hawkins debating against the role of consolidative radiotherapy.
Furthermore, Iwan Paolucci, PhD, presented significant advancements in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for CCA. The discussion included the utilization of machine-learning algorithms to develop predictive models for drug discovery, alongside models aimed at forecasting protein folding. Additionally, the potential of AI in diagnosing diseases and predicting early cancer recurrence was highlighted. Finally, we all congratulate Molly Meeks, BSN, RN, OCN, of The University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, AZ, for winning the CCA Summit ONE Award, as well as our other nominee, Mary Helen Larsen, MSN, RN, OCN, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, for their hard work.
Congratulations to all participants for a very successful summit.
Sincerely,
Milind M. Javle, MD
To sign up for our newsletter or print publications, please enter your contact information below.
