‘Oncogene-mediated signal transduction’… ‘tumor educated macrophages’… ‘mammary stroma and tumorigenesis’…. While most of us don’t usually chat about these topics at the water cooler, we’re very lucky that some of the smartest minds in the world do love to talk about them, and talk they did at the second annual ‘Weekend to End Breast Cancer’ International Symposium this week.

These complex subjects are important because they are moving us ever closer to a clear understanding of breast cancer, and how it can be treated and ultimately eradicated.

	Dr. Tak Mak speaks at the Weekend to End Breast Cancer International Symposium

“If we are going to conquer breast cancer, it is critical that the people doing the research both in the lab and in the clinic meet regularly and update one another on their findings,” said Dr. Tak Mak, Director of the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Hospital, and the organizer for this year’s event.

“We are very pleased that the Advisory Committee for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer is providing funding for this important exchange of information in the breast cancer research community,” continues Mak.

Twenty-nine presenters from all over North America, as well as the U.K. presented findings from their latest research to a full auditorium of scientists, medical oncologists and professors who devote their working lives (probably sleep time too!) to figuring out how to prevent or cure breast cancer.

Dr. Dennis Slamon provided the keynote address entitled “Molecular Diversity of Human Breast Cancer: Clinical and Therapeutic Implications” where he shared his findings that some powerful chemotherapy drugs have no effect on certain types of breast cancer patients (HER2-negative).  This finding is important because doctors naturally do not want to subject women to potentially toxic drugs when there is no benefit.

When asked if the findings shared at the Symposium could allow women facing a risk of breast cancer to be more optimistic than 2 or 3 years ago, presenters interviewed felt they could.  They cited the ability to tailor or personalize the treatment as one of the areas of good progress. 

This reflects the growing understanding that breast cancer is not really one disease, but several different types.  Clinicians can now move beyond ‘one size fits all’ treatment and develop personalized treatment programs depending on the type of breast cancer.