Lyndsay N. Harris, MD

2009-2010 BCRF Project:
This project is designed to better understand the mechanisms of response and resistance to some of the most commonly used agents for breast cancer, paclitaxel and trastuzumab. This proposal builds on work supported by BCRF on cohorts of patients treated with trastuzumab and paclitaxel, to define markers of response to these therapies. In addition, Dr. Harris and her team have added a second dimension, that of host response to these agents by evaluating the pharmacogenomic determinants of toxicity from paclitaxel. They will ultimately develop a model which integrates tumor and host features of therapeutic benefit to provide a 'fingerprint' for patients and their providers which will allow them to optimize therapeutic choices.

Mid-Year Progress Report:
This proposal builds on previous work supported by BCRF on cohorts of patients treated with trastuzumab and paclitaxel, to define markers of response to these therapies. In addition, Dr. Harris has added a second dimension, that of host response to these agents by evaluating the pharmacogenomic determinants of toxicity from paclitaxel. She and her colleagues have recently reported exciting findings at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dec 2009. Their study has shown that researchers can perform high quality gene expression profiling on archived tumor blocks as old as 15 years ago - a feat that was not possible as recently as 4 years ago.

The results of this study show that the Luminal A tumor subtype receives more benefit from weekly dosing of paclitaxel, as compared to every three week dosing. Dr. Harris and her team have also discovered that a subgroup of HER2 positive tumors, which have a basal gene expression pattern, have a much worse prognosis with trastuzumab and paclitaxel, suggesting that this group of HER2 tumors should be tested with alternative HER2-targeted therapy, such as lapatinib (Tykerb®). In addition, they have discovered new genomic regions that predict benefit from trastuzumab and paclitaxel in HER2 negative breast tumors. Their preoperative therapy trial is accruing quickly and the scientists hope to test these new markers in a prospective fashion in early stage HER2 positive breast cancer.

Bio:
Dr. Lyndsay Harris is a nationally recognized expert in breast cancer treatment and research. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Medical Oncology, at the Yale School of Medicine and the Director of the Yale Cancer Center Breast Cancer Program. Additionally, she serves as Co-Director of the Yale-New Haven Breast Center.

Dr. Harris has focused her research into the molecular classifications of breast cancer and the development of novel strategies to evaluate and treat breast cancer. She is the principal investigator for several phase I, II, and III clinical trials for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Previously, Dr. Harris served as an Assistant Professor at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and an Attending Physician at the Breast Oncology Disease Center at Dana Farber.

Dr. Harris currently serves a leadership role on several prominent national committees, including as the Associate Chair for Breast Cancer, ASCO Tumor Marker Guidelines Subcommittee, a member of the Cooperative Breast Cancer Tissue Resource Panel of the National Cancer Institute, and a cadre member of the Department of Defense Integration Panel.

Dr. Harris received both her undergraduate degree and Medical Degree from the University of Alberta. She fulfilled her internship requirements at the University of Alberta and served as a fellow in medical oncology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Harris completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Georgetown University Medical Center.