Speaker: Rosanna Wustrack, MD, FAAOS, University of California San Francisco
For someone unfamiliar with sarcoma, what's the most important thing you want them to understand?
Rosanna Wustrack, MD, FAAOS: Hi there. My name's Rosie Wustrack. I'm an orthopedic oncologist at University of California San Francisco. When I think of someone who's unfamiliar with sarcoma, the most important thing I'd like them to understand is that while sarcomas are very rare, the vast majority are treatable. We have newer technologies that can treat the tumor and provide good functional results. So while it is a very scary diagnosis to receive, I want people to know that we have experts that work in a team approach to cure the disease and keep people moving and functioning well.
What's the biggest thing happening in sarcoma care right now? Is there an advance, a shift, or a challenge that stands out most?
Rosanna Wustrack, MD, FAAOS: I think the biggest thing happening in sarcoma care right now are advances in systemic therapies for sarcomas. Over the past two to three years, we've been using immunotherapy more often to treat some of the soft tissue sarcomas we see, and in a select group of patients we've seen a tremendous response. So having this new systemic treatment in our toolbox is really helping us treat patients in a variety of ways and reduce side effects that patients often would see with standard cytotoxic chemotherapy. Additionally, I think we're starting to pay a lot more attention to our survivors. I think it's not just enough to help cure a patient of sarcoma, but we have to do more to improve those patients' quality of life. And there's been a bigger focus on that more recently. So better surgical techniques, better implants, and more support for patients that are now dealing with some of the lifelong challenges that come with having received radiation or chemotherapy or limb salvage surgery.
What's one thing you're watching closely right now that could reshape sarcoma care in the future?
Rosanna Wustrack, MD, FAAOS: I think one thing I'm really watching is to see if we are able to treat patients with a histology that's unique to that patient, rather than grouping a lot of patients with heterogeneous diagnoses in the same bucket. I think an example would be something like chondrosarcoma. So we may say you have chondrosarcoma, but that could really encompass a very heterogeneous group of cancers, from a very low-grade tumor to a very high, aggressive tumor. And so getting out of calling it chondrosarcoma simply because maybe there's cartilage being formed, but looking at the molecular genetics and coming up with a very unique treatment paradigm for that person, for the very unique cancer that they may have, and not just calling it chondrosarcoma, but really giving that a personalized medicine approach to treatment.
What would you say to a colleague who's on the fence about joining the MsTR? What's the biggest benefit for sites and patients?
Rosanna Wustrack, MD, FAAOS: I think this is a pretty easy question to answer because we will never be able to answer these big questions about sarcoma care without getting more data from more patients. It's such a rare disease and so heterogeneous that we have to pool our data if we're ever going to be able to answer questions and help our patients on a large scale. So I would say the biggest benefit for sites and patients is getting enough data to answer questions that can then be translated directly to patient care and improve outcomes.