The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville

Improving Breast Cancer Outcomes through Worldwide Research Collaborations

A team of UT Graduate School of Medicine physicians recently led a symposium at World Congress on Breast Cancer 2015 in Birmingham, England, presenting their original research on topics including breast cancer biomarkers, breast cancer in women younger than 40, breast cancer in elderly women over 70, HER2+ breast cancer (one of the three most common types), and USA guidelines and standards of breast cancer care in an academic medical center.

Amila Orucevic, MD, PhD, associate professor of Pathology, collaborated with John Bell, MD, Director of the UT Cancer Institute and Professor of Surgery, and James McLoughlin, MD, Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology, as well as Pathology residents, Daniel Snyder, DO, Matthew Curzon, MD, and Heather Gage, MBBCH, to lead the symposium entitled, "Implementing Recent Advances in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: The University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville Experience."

In 2013, Amila Orucevic, MD, PhD, associate professor of Pathology, published a research paper on the predictive value of biomarkers in breast cancer in Breast Journal, the official journal of the National Consortium of Breast Cancers. Her paper was the most downloaded paper in 2013 for the Breast Journal, and it was also in the top five percent of all articles scored by several medical journal-publishing groups. The following year, Orucevic was contacted by the organizers of the World Congress on Breast Cancer 2015 to see if she would be interested in leading a symposium in Birmingham, England.

Dr. Orucevic said the presentations were well received among an audience of approximately 200 healthcare and information sciences professionals from around the world including Australia, England, France, India, Spain, Turkey and the U.S.

As a result of the conference, Dr. Orucevic said that she has already been invited to participate in two more international conferences.

Research presented included:

"Prognostic Value of ER, PR, and HER2 Breast Cancer Biomarkers and AJCC's TNM Staging System on Overall Survival of Caucasian Females with Breast Cancer - An Institution's 10 Year Experience"
Amila Orucevic, MD, PhD

"Breast Cancer in Young Age (<40 Years): The University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville 10 Year Experience"
Daniel Snyder, DO

"Breast Cancer in Elderly Patients (70 years and older): The University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville 10 Year Experience"
Matthew Curzon, MD

"HER2+ Breast Cancer: Pre and Post Adjuvant Anti-HER2 Therapy Era - The University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville 11 Year Experience"
Heather Gage, MD

"The Role of Intraoperative Fluoroscopy to Improve Negative Margin Resection of Partial Mastectomies: A Single Institution Experience"
James McLoughlin, MD

"Using USA Guidelines and Standards of Breast Cancer Care in an Academic Medical Center: Screening to Survivorship"
John Bell, MD