Webinar: The Emerging Role of Radiation for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: Higher Doses Lead to Improved Survival

This presentation focused on the non-operative treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Over the past 5 years, new technology has allowed much higher doses of radiation to be given safely. These doses are capable of ablating the tumor and preventing it from causing liver failure and death, leading to much longer survival and a realistic chance for cure. Results from MD Anderson demonstrate outcomes comparable to surgical resection.

Professor Christopher Crane, MD, is Program Director and Chief of the Gastrointestinal Section, in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. His primary research interest is in combining novel chemotherapeutic agents with radiotherapy in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. He has conducted clinical trials in pancreatic, liver, anal, and rectal cancers focusing on the combination of molecular targeted therapies with radiotherapy as well as correlative studies focused on the development of predictive markers. In addition, he is focused on the role of role of radiation dose escalation using novel technologies in the curative treatment of liver and pancreatic cancers. He serves on the NCI’s Pancreatic Cancer Task Force, the Gastrointestinal Steering Committee, and is the former Chairman of the Gastrointestinal Committee of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, and is now Chairman of NRG Oncology’s Non-colorectal GI Committee.