Duke Radiology research fellow Francesca Rigiroli, MD, received award from Bracco Foundation for her project on Radiomics applied on pancreatic cancer. The project, “Radiomics applied on staging and clinical outcome of Pancreas Ductal Adenocarcinoma”, involved one of the most deadly oncological pathologies in which surgical treatment is still the only hope for a definitive cure.
The method experimented on by Francesca with the involvement of a team of other specialists (surgeons, physicists, oncologists) involve the use of Radiomics, a leading edge technique in diagnostics that makes it possible to derive from images a huge amount of numerical data processed with machine learning techniques. With this method it is possible to make predictions on the state of the artery, to see whether the tumor has infiltrated it or not. After the initial phases and that of data collection, in April 2019 Francesca obtained the preliminary results, which were positive and could thus become a consolidated practice in the coming years.
Francesca would like to recognize and thank her mentor, Daniele Marin, MD., as well as fellow collaborators: Ehsan Samei, PhD, M.E., Rendon Nelson, MD., FACR, and Sheng Luo, PhD.
See here, a summary of an interview with Francesca.
Congratulations Francesca!!