Renowned Breast Surgeon Laura J. Esserman Discusses Her Life and Research at Department of Surgery Staff Engagement Event
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 screening and with a goal of recruiting 100,000 women from throughout California for the study.
The second, the I-Spy trials offer an unprecedented and streamlined approach to clinical trial design . Stage II and III breast cancer patients receive drugs targeted to the specific molecular profile of their tumors in a neoadjuvant setting (prior to surgery). The response of any individual patient to a drug is factored into subsequent interventions in the study, creating a "continuous learning engine", a trial design that "takes 10 years off the clock" in providing researchers with statistically significant results.
Watch Replay of Staff Engagement Event Featuring Dr. Laura Esserman (UCSF MyAccess Login Required)
The WISDOM Study: breaking the deadlock in the breast cancer screening debate (NPJ Breast) (PDF)
Massive study launched to test personalized approach to breast cancer screening (University of California News)
