Setting the Stage: AI Breakthroughs in Gastric Cancer

Board-certified UCI Health surgical oncologist Maheswari Senthil, MD, joins the podcast to share her expertise on managing advanced gastrointestinal cancers, particularly peritoneal malignancies, and discusses revolutionary tools and clinical trials aimed at improving patient outcomes. Learn about the innovative use of artificial intelligence in early diagnosis, the development of sophisticated machine learning models, and the promising STOPGAP clinical trial that combines systemic and regional treatments for stage four cancer patients. Topics discussed:  Challenges of detecting advanced gastric cancer (peritoneal carcinomatosis) early due to vague symptoms and imaging limitations. Development of a deep machine learning model at UCI Health with 98% predictive accuracy based on CT imaging. Launch of STOPGAP2: the first NCI-approved national randomized phase 2/3 trial targeting peritoneal carcinomatosis. Shift from traditional circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to studying extracellular vesicles (exosomes) for more precise, early cancer detection. Development of a patented exosome isolation reagent to standardize and accelerate clinical application. Broader implications for other diseases beyond cancer, such as Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular diseases. Connect with UCI Health physicians online at clinicalconnection.ucihealth.org, on LinkedIn @UCI Health Physicians, on Instagram @ucihealthphysicians, or at @uciphysicians on X. Refer a patient at referralportal.ucihealth.org and learn more about ongoing clinical trials at ucihealth.org/clinical-trials.