News & Events: Precision Medicine in Breast Cancer

Renowned breast surgeon Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA gave a captivating talk about her richly textured life and innovative research at a Staff Engagement Event hosted by the Department of Surgery on February 9th at UCSF Mount Zion. The research portion of her talk focused on two landmark clinical trials she serves as principal investigator on. The first, the WISDOM Study (Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk (WISDOM), is a pragmatic, adaptive, randomized clinical trial comparing a comprehensive risk-based, or personalized approach to traditional annual breast cancer [...]

An article commentary recently published in NPJ Breast Cancer, a Nature Research journal, discusses the WISDOM Study (Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk (WISDOM), a groundbreaking clinical trial recruiting 100,000 women from throughout California that will compare annual breast cancer screening with personalized risk-based breast cancer screening. The study is led by Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA (pictured), professor of surgery and director of the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She and the other Wisdom Study [...]

Laura Esserman, M.D., MBA, Professor of Surgery and Radiology at UCSF, and Director of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, was recently interviewed by NPR about a study she led utilizing MammaPrint, a diagnostic assay (test), which appears to precisely distinguish between "ultralow-risk" breast tumors and more aggressive ones. This test could inform the decision to whether to recommend adjuvant (post-surgical) therapy, potentially sparing patients from the toxic effects of chemotherapy and radiation.  For years, doctors have focused on detecting breast cancer at the earliest [...]

The NY Times profiled UCSF breast cancer surgeon Dr. Laura Esserman and her challenge to  the conventional wisdom surrounding breast cancer screening. Esserman argues that most patients will not benefit from early detection of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesions and further that the ominous word "carcinoma" be dropped from the medical term and the condition renamed "indolent lesions of epithelial origin," or IDLEs. Late one afternoon this summer, Dr. Laura J. Esserman, a breast cancer surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, sat in a darkened room scrutinizing a [...]

UCSF News reports on new results showing the promise and potential of I-SPY 2 Trial, personalized medicine study designed to identify breast cancer patients most likely to benefit from an array experimental drugs. In an innovative clinical trial led by UC San Francisco, the experimental drug neratinib along with standard chemotherapy was found to be a beneficial treatment for some women with newly diagnosed, high-risk breast cancer. Additionally, researchers learned that an algorithm used in the adaptive, randomized trial known as I-SPY 2 was highly effective at predicting the success of [...]

The San Francisco Chronicle recently profiled UCSF breastcare surgeon Dr. Laura Esserman,  There is no starched white lab coat for Dr. Laura Esserman. Instead, the tall and striking breast cancer researcher, surgeon and visionary favors colorful clothes, high heels and, on a recent day, metallic blue nail polish. Before she operates, just as the general anesthetic is being administered, Esserman sings the patient's requested song. A talented musician with a voice for opera, Esserman delivers songs as varied as "Don't You Fret" from "Les Miserables" to the Sarah Palin rap from "Saturday [...]