Pamela J. Goodwin, MD, MSc, FRCP(C)

2008-2009 BCRF Project:
With BCRF support, Dr. Goodwin has been studying long-term breast cancer survivors focusing on medical, psychosocial, quality of life and physiologic variables. A group of healthy controls is being recruited. Early results have shown that weight and some physiologic predictors of breast cancer outcomes worsen over time, and that Vitamin D levels at diagnosis may influence outcomes. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with poor breast cancer outcomes and, in the past, has been common in patients at diagnosis. However, Vitamin D supplements are being used with increasing frequency by the general population and probably by breast cancer patients as well.

In the coming year, Dr. Goodwin plans to collaborate with Dr. Patricia Ganz at UCLA and Dr. Kathleen Pritchard at the University of Toronto to survey newly diagnosed patients to determine their Vitamin D levels and use of Vitamin D supplements and to determine personal factors (such as sun exposure and diet) associated with Vitamin D levels. The ultimate goal is to evaluate the need for, and feasibility of, a randomized clinical trial of Vitamin D supplementation in breast cancer.

Bio:
Dr. Pamela Goodwin has been actively involved in research relating to breast cancer for the past 20 years. Early in her career, she became intrigued with the possibility that lifestyle, especially obesity, might impact outcomes of women diagnosed with breast cancer. She began a program of research that focused on the role of lifestyle factors, including nutrition, exercise and related factors in the clinical course of breast cancer. She has led a number of studies which investigate the complex interactions between body size, nutrition, exercise and physiologic mediators such as insulin, IGF-I and vitamin D, examining the impact of these factors on survival of women diagnosed with breast cancer. She has also led a multicentre randomized trial that demonstrated that participation in support groups helped women who were psychologically distressed by their breast cancer cope with their cancer, however, support groups did not influence survival. More recently, Dr. Goodwin has begun investigating the status of long-term breast cancer survivors and the influences of hereditary factors and vitamin D on breast cancer outcomes.

Dr. Goodwin is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, with cross appointments in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and in the School of Graduate Studies. She is a Scientist in the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, Director of the hospital's Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre and holder of the Marvelle Koffler Chair in Breast Research.