How close are we to individualized treatment of breast cancer?

Abstract

Lawrence J Solin speaks to Natalie Harrison, Commissioning Editor: Lawrence J Solin is Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia (PA, USA). Dr Solin received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown University in Providence (RI, USA). He completed his residency in Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson University, both in Philadelphia. He is a coeditor of the book Breast Cancer Management and Molecular Medicine: Towards Tailored Approaches. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (PA, USA) and has concentrated his research interests on breast-conservation treatment with radiation for early-stage breast cancer. Dr Solin has contributed over 170 peer-reviewed publications to the medical literature, has presented more than 170 invited national and international lectures, and serves on nine journal editorial boards. His recent research has focused on the use of breast-conservation treatment with radiation for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), long-term outcomes after breast conservation treatment for invasive breast carcinoma and for DCIS, technical approaches to radiation treatment delivery, and biologically defined subsets of breast cancer. He also maintains an active clinical practice in the area of radiation treatment for breast cancer. At last year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (TX, USA), Dr Solin presented the results of a prospective validation study of the DCIS score from the ECOG E5194 trial, in which a quantitative multigene reverse transcription PCR assay was found to be capable of quantifying recurrence risk in selected patients with DCIS, who were treated with surgical excision without irradiation, thereby providing a new clinical tool for individualized selection of treatment for patients with DCIS.