Nancy U. Lin, MD

2009-2010 BCRF Project:
(made possible by generous support from Play For P.I.N.K.)

Drs. Nancy Lin and Eric Winer are leading two clinical trials evaluating new treatments for breast cancer that has spread to the brain (brain metastases). A third clinical trial is slated to open by the fall. Now, Drs. Lin and Winer will continue their efforts to expand the options for patients with brain metastases from breast cancer. It is anticipated that the two ongoing clinical trials will be completed over the next 12 months. A trial evaluating the combination of chemotherapy with bevacizumab, a targeted drug that blocks blood vessel growth, will be launched this year; this study will be open to women of all breast cancer subtypes. They will also develop a new study in women with HER2-positive breast cancer, which will incorporate lapatinib (a drug that targets HER2) with pazopanib, a novel drug that blocks blood vessel growth. Finally, Drs. Lin and Winer will begin a project to analyze patient tumor and blood samples to explore ways to predict which patients may benefit from specific treatments.

Mid-Year Progress Report:
Currently, limited treatment options are available for patients with breast cancer and brain metastases (cancer that has spread to the brain). With support from BCRF, Drs. Nancy Lin and Eric Winer are leading multiple clinical trials evaluating new treatments for this challenging problem. Two of these trials have recently completed enrollment and data analysis is well under way. A third trial, evaluating chemotherapy in combination with blood-vessel-targeted therapy, and open to patients with any breast cancer subtype, began enrollment in October 2009. Early data from this study are encouraging. A fourth trial, which will specifically evaluate HER2-targeted therapy, is under development with plans to open by summer of this year. Collectively, these studies represent a major effort to expand the range of options and improve the outcomes for patients with brain metastases from breast cancer.

Bio:
Dr. Lin is an attending physician in the Department of Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). She is an active member of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B and the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium, and is a recipient of an ASCO Foundation Young Investigator Award and Career Development Award.

After receiving an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, she attended Harvard Medical School and subsequently completed her internship and residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She trained in hematology-oncology at Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care and joined the staff of the Breast Oncology Center at DFCI in 2005.

Dr. Lin divides her time between patient care and clinical research. Her research interests focus on the development of new treatments for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases. She is leading several clinical trials evaluating the use of systemic therapy and targeted therapy for patients with brain metastases. Her work is highly collaborative and involves efforts to develop radiological and molecular predictors of response and resistance to therapy.