WCCS/EADO 2016 | How imaging techniques used to assess response in skin cancer are changing

Marius Erik Mayerhöfer, MD, PhD of the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria discusses changes in the imaging methods used to assess response for melanoma. The RECIST criteria is the most frequently used method, while the PERCIST criteria are new. Further, new techniques are being developed; Dr Mayerhöfer mentions PET, PET-CT and PET/MR, which offers new possibilities and enables the assessment of different properties of the tumor, such as perfusion and vascularization. Melanoma is a very specific tumor with a specific histological composition. Tracking of melanin is pre-clinical at the moment but a topic that is being investigated according to Dr Mayerhöfer. With new treatments of melanoma, such as the PD-1 antibodies (e.g. pembrolizumab), to visualize the PDL-1 receptors in vivo. He further discusses the next steps for treatment response assessment in melanoma. According to Dr Mayerhöfer, clinically the next step is to shift from morphological to functional and metabolic imaging. At the moment, RECIST critera are still being used but there will be a change and new hybrid imaging techniques such as PET/MR, will be at the forefront.
Recorded at the World Congress on Cancers of the Skin (WCCS) and the Congress of the European Association of Dermato-Oncology (EADO) in Vienna, Austria.