Expanding cancer treatment options through interventional radiology

Interventional radiology is playing an increasingly important role in cancer care, offering minimally invasive approaches for patients with complex malignancies and limited treatment options.

In this episode of Physician Huddle, Nadine Abi-Jaoudeh, MD, chief of the Division of Interventional Radiology at UCI Health and professor of radiological sciences at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, joins hosts Lindsay Carrillo and Sunil Verma, MD, to discuss advances in interventional oncology and the expanding role of image-guided therapies.

Abi-Jaoudeh highlights investigational treatments for locally advanced pancreatic cancer, including a laser-activated therapy being studied to potentially enable surgical resection. She also examines transarterial microperfusion, irreversible electroporation, radioembolization and liver-directed chemotherapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic disease.

Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes multidisciplinary collaboration, clinical trial development, and early consultation with interventional radiology to identify appropriate treatment options.

Topics discussed

• The evolution of interventional radiology from diagnostic procedures to advanced, image-guided cancer therapies
• Investigational laser-activated therapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer and its potential to enable surgical resection
• Transarterial microperfusion and NanoKnife irreversible electroporation for pancreatic tumors
• Chemoembolization, radioembolization and emerging combination therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma
• Liver-directed chemotherapy and extracorporeal filtration for patients with hepatic metastases from uveal melanoma
• Multidisciplinary tumor boards and the integration of interventional oncology into comprehensive cancer care
• Referral considerations, patient selection and the importance of early collaboration between community oncologists and interventional radiologists

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Refer a patient at referralportal.ucihealth.org and learn more about ongoing clinical trials at ucihealth.org/clinical-trials.