Breast cancer symposium to discuss on latest advances in research and treatment

The latest advances in both breast cancer treatment and research - including innovations in diagnostic, surgical, chemotherapy and radiation approaches - will be discussed Friday, April 8, 2011, at a breast cancer symposium at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia.

The all-day, breast cancer symposium, part of an annual series at the Kimmel Cancer Center, will be held at the Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 233 S. 10th Street, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

"Treating breast cancer is a multidisciplinary effort, with input from a variety of specialists, such as pathologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists, who make decisions about patient treatment and care," says Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson and professor and chair of cancer biology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

"This symposium is an opportunity for those players to come together and highlight the innovative discoveries we believe will be important for the next generation of therapeutics in breast cancer patients," he adds.

A range of topics will be covered by top experts here at Jefferson and other institutions in the United States.

Michael Lisanti, M.D., professor of cancer biology at Jefferson Medical College, will discuss his recent work with new models for cancer, "The Reverse Warburg Effect" and "The Autophagic Tumor Stroma Model of Cancer." His studies have shown how mitochondrial oxidative stress plays a role in cancer development and how cancer metabolism can be used to predict clinical outcomes.

"High-risk breast cancer patients—those whose cancer cells use high-energy metabolites—can be treated with new therapeutics that target oxidative mitochondrial metabolism," Dr. Lisanti said. "We should re-consider using antioxidants and autophagy inhibitors as anti-cancer agents."

There will also be presentations by Hallgeir Rui, M.D., Ph.D, also of the department of cancer biology at Jefferson Medical College, who will discuss therapy-relevant stratification of breast cancer, and Paula Ryan, M.D., Ph.D., of Fox Chase Cancer Center's department of medical oncology, who will present a clinical update on patients with triple negative breast cancer, a high-risk disease that is characterized as more aggressive and less responsive to standard treatment.

Hyman B. Muss, M.D., of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, will lead a session titled "Geriatics: Treating the Elderly with Breast Cancer."

Sixty percent of cancer in the United States occurs in persons aged 65 and older. At the same time, senior patients may have acute or chronic diseases that make treating their cancer challenging. That's why the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson established the new, multidisciplinary Senior Adult Oncology Center to provide a comprehensive consultation for senior patients in order to meet those special challenges.

Source: Kimmel Cancer Center