Dr. Aboulafia on Targeted Therapy in Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor

Albert J. Aboulafia, MD, medical director of the Weinberg Cancer Institute at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, discusses targeted therapy options in tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT).

Currently in the TGCT space, there are few precision medicine initiatives, says Aboulafia. A phase I trial is examining the use of targeted therapies within TGCT, and could provide some insight into this heterogenous disease.

Soft tissue sarcomas, including synovial sarcoma, myxoid liposarcoma, and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, have translocations or molecular rearrangements, says Aboulafia. A small number of patients have targetable mutations. The National Cancer Institute-MATCH trial shows that if an NTRK fusion, for example, is detected with molecular profiling, the patient can be treated with NTRK-targeted therapy.

Rather than the sarcoma or tumor type, it is the mutation that is specifically targeted, Aboulafia concludes.