Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Experts Available for Comment on General Breast Cancer Topics During Virtual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS)

New Brunswick, N.J., December 7, 2020 – The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) provides an opportunity for basic, translational and clinical cancer research professionals to experience and discuss the most current research and advances in the field of breast cancer. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, together with RWJBarnabas health, is home to a multidisciplinary team of nationally recognized physicians at the Stacy Goldstein Breast Cancer Center. Their expertise includes the management of care for routine, rare and complex breast cancers for both men and women, and many engage in a spectrum of clinical, basic, and translational research activities.

Several of these experts, who are also faculty members at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, are available for comment during the 43^rd annual SABCS symposium, taking place virtually from December 8-11.

Deborah L. Toppmeyer, MD, is chief medical officer and director of both the Stacy Goldstein Breast Cancer Center and the LIFE Center at Rutgers Cancer Institute. She is also a professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She has expertise in breast cancer genetics and the design and implementation of clinical trials that offer promising new therapies targeted to specific types of breast cancer. Dr. Toppmeyer also serves as a core member for the Breast Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, which is one of the nation’s largest clinical cancer research organizations that conducts clinical trials in all types of adult cancers.

Bruce Haffty, MD, MS, is chair of Radiation Oncology and associate vice chancellor for Cancer Programs at Rutgers Cancer Institute. Dr. Haffty has a special research interest in radiation therapies targeting breast cancer and conducts clinical and translational investigation allowing his team of radiation oncologists to translate these findings to apply directly to patient therapies. Currently, his team works closely with surgeons and medical oncologists to explore more rapid ways of delivering radiation and investigating novel drugs which may enhance the effects of radiation in breast cancer and other cancers. He was recently selected as the 2021 president-elect of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Shicha Kumar, MD, FACS, is a surgical oncologist at Rutgers Cancer Institute dedicated to the care of patients with breast cancer. Dr. Kumar engages in clinical research to advance the knowledge of this disease. She has a specific interest in understanding the challenges young women with breast cancer face, as well as those who do not have breast cancer, but are at high risk for developing it, such as BRCA gene mutation carriers. Dr. Kumar’s clinical expertise includes breast conservation, oncoplastic techniques, nipple-sparing mastectomy, ductal carcinoma-in-situ (DCIS), breast cancer in men and clinical trials.

Nancy Chan, MD, is a medical oncologist at the Stacey Goldstein Breast Cancer Center at Rutgers Cancer Institute. Dr. Chan has an interest in reducing the risk of relapse in high-risk breast cancer patients, and studying the roles of bone marrow derived progenitor cells and the angiogenic switch in metastatic disease. Dr. Chan has worked closely with both the clinical and translational teams to elucidate the many steps still unknown in breast tumor biology. With a deep commitment to bringing comprehensive and cutting-edge therapy to her patients, Dr. Chan is a member of the Phase I clinical trials team at the Rutgers Cancer Institute.