Monica N. Fornier, MD

2008-2009 BCRF Project:
Co-investigator: Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD, Head of Sandro Pitigliani Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology, Hospital of Prato, Italy

In the last year, Dr. Di Leo and colleagues have been collecting blood samples from almost 100 women with breast cancer and have shown that tumor cells are found in the blood sample from 64% of them. The researchers already know from the work done by other groups that a large number of tumor cells detected in the blood (more than 5 cells per sample) indicates that the disease is aggressive. During the course of 2008, they will concentrate on three different clinical studies that will lead to understanding if tumor cells can also be useful to select the most effective medical therapy for each individual woman with breast cancer. They believe that the results of their ongoing studies will contribute to make a substantial progress in the fight against breast cancer. The researchers are confident that by the end of 2009 they will have the first results. In the meantime, they have successfully presented the results of their feasibility project at the European Breast Cancer Conference that was held in Berlin last April.

A new collaborative project between Drs. Di Leo and Fornier will focus on metabolomics, a new field of cancer research. This technology allows for the concomitant evaluation of hundreds of small molecules (metabolites) from blood samples of cancer patients. The tumor produces several types of metabolites that can be easily detected in the blood of cancer patients by the metabolomic technology. The researchers aim to identify a group of metabolites from the blood of breast cancer patients, associated with a high risk of tumor recurrence. To identify metabolites associated with the risk of cancer recurrence could be a major step forward in the fight against breast cancer and would allow the identification of patients who are still at risk of tumor recurrence although the cancer has been removed during breast cancer surgery.

This research will be the first worldwide to test the value of metabolomics as a tool defining breast cancer outcome in each individual patient. The project will be carried out thanks to the collaboration between the Breast Medicine Service of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the "Sandro Pitigliani" Medical Oncology Unit, Hospital of Prato - Istituto Toscano Tumori, Italy. Two hundred patients will participate in this project. First results will be available by the end of 2009.

Bio:
Dr. Monica Fornier is an Assistant Member at the Breast Cancer Medicine Service of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and specializes in the treatment of breast cancer. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York Presbyterian Hospital

Dr. Fornier graduated summa cum laude at the University of Milan (Italy); she pursued her Oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute of Milan, under the mentorship of Dr. Gianni Bonadonna, and a second fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, under the mentorship of Dr. Larry Norton. She is currently a member of the Faculty at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she conducts clinical research in breast cancer. Dr. Fornier has been involved in the development and conduction of numerous clinical trials assessing novel drugs and drug scheduling strategies for the treatment of breast cancer, both in the adjuvant and metastatic setting.

Dr Fornier is an active member of various national and international scientific groups, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the European Society of Medical Oncology. Dr Fornier has numerous publications to her name and has presented data at international meetings.