Dr. Hurvitz answers the following:

• What are the biggest advances in breast cancer in 2021?
• What is your current approach to metastatic triple negative breast cancer?
• How do you choose between CDK4/6 inhibitors in both the curative and metastatic settings?
• How do you treat metastatic HER2 positive breast cancer with organ dysfunction through various lines of therapy?
• Did we learn any new information about T-DXD (Enhertu) in 2021?
• How do you envision the future development of T-DXD (Enhertu)?

Sara A Hurvitz, MD, is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); co-director of the Santa Monica-UCLA Outpatient Oncology Practice; Medical Director of the Clinical Research Unit of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA; and Director of Breast Oncology. Dr. Hurvitz received board-certification in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology. Dr. Hurvitz has won numerous awards over the past few years, among them the Marni Levine Memorial Breast Cancer Research Award 2008 through 2015.

On this episode, PrecisCa speaks with Dr. Michael Lanuti, an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School & the Director of Thoracic Oncology, Division of Thoracic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Dr. Lanuti sits down with PrecisCa to discuss the following:

• What tests need to be ordered before surgery for lung cancer?
• Which patient should not undergo surgery for lung cancer?
• What is a sleeve resection?
• What is the role of pulmonary function testing and who should be tested?
• How many days do patients spend in the hospital with various types of lung surgery?
• What are the average operative times for Surgical Techniques in Lung Cancer?
• What are some common complaints after a patient has undergone lung surgery?

Dr. Lanuti is the Director of Thoracic Oncology for the Division of Thoracic Surgery and the Thoracic Surgery liaison to the MGH Cancer Center. Clinical interests include minimally invasive surgery for lung cancer, complex airway tumors, multimodality treatment of esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors, navigation and robotic bronchoscopy, non surgical treatment of lung tumors using percutaneous and bronchoscope thermal ablation techniques.

Dr. Lanuti spearheads translational research in a Thoracic Oncology Research Laboratory. The principle goals of the laboratory are to design novel therapeutics to treat lung and esophageal cancer that can be brought to clinical trials.  The laboratory uses oncolytic viruses in combination with other modalities such as chemotherapy and angiotensin system inhibitors to target solid tumor. Some of these strategies include development of oncolytic viruses that help degrade tumor matrix. Ultimately, this translational effort will strive to bring treatment strategies from the laboratory bench to the bedside and back to the bench again for re-evaluation and improvement. 

Dr. Lanuti has investigated molecular risk factors for esophageal adenocarcinoma and found an elevated risk associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms in the epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene which is associated with differentiation of tumor tissue

After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Lanuti received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and a 2-year research fellowship in a Thoracic Oncology Laboratory focusing on novel treatments for lung cancer.  

Dr. Lanuti continued with sub-specialty training and completed a Cardiothoracic Fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been on staff in the Division of Thoracic Surgery since 2004 and holds a parallel appointment as Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He has been the Friedman-Lambert Scholar in Academic Thoracic Surgery at MGH/HMS since 2004 and directs a Thoracic Oncology Research Lab for the past 15 years focusing on novel treatment of lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis and imaging of radiation induced lung injury in the setting of lung cancer.

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• Which breast cancer patients are eligible for preoperative pembrolizumab in the curative setting based on the KEYNOTE-522 trial? What about adjuvant pembrolizumab?
• How is trastuzumab deruxtecan optimally utilized for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer?
• Which CDK 4/6 inhibitor is recommended for treatment of HR+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer based on available survival data?
• Can you discuss the data from the MonarchE Trial that led to FDA approval of abemaciclib in October 2021?

Dr. O’Shaughnessy received her M.D. from Yale University Medical School. Her internship and residency in internal medicine were completed at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1985. She concluded a fellowship in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute in 1987 and was a Senior Investigator there until 1995. Dr. O’Shaughnessy is a member of American Association for Cancer Research; American Society of Clinical Oncology; American Medical Women’s Association; American Medical Association; American College of Physicians; and Women in Cancer Research. Dr. O’Shaughnessy is an Associate Editor, Clinical Breast Cancer Journal; founder, The School of Breast Oncology.