What is Cancer?
Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by either the runaway growth of cells or the failure of cells to die normally. Often, cancer cells spread to distant parts of the body, where they can form new tumors. Cancer can arise in any organ of the body and strikes one of every two American men and one of every three American women at some point in their lives.
Each year, nearly 1.4 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States, a figure that does not include the 900,000 cases of skin cancer diagnosed annually. Cancer is the second leading cause of death (after heart disease) in the United States, accounting for 560,000 deaths every year.
There are more than 100 different varieties of cancer, which can be divided into six major categories. Carcinomas, the most common type of cancer, originate in tissues that cover a surface or line a cavity of the body. Sarcomas begin in tissue that connects, supports or surrounds other tissues and organs. Lymphomas are cancers of the lymph system, the circulatory system that bathes and cleanses the body's cells. Leukemias involve blood-forming tissues and blood cells. As their name indicates, brain tumors are cancers that begin in the brain, and skin cancers, including dangerous melanomas, originate in the skin. Cancers are considered metastatic if they spread via the blood or lymphatic system to other parts of the body to form secondary tumors.
Cancer is caused by a series of mutations, or alterations, in genes that control cells' ability to grow and divide. Some mutations are inherited; others arise from environmental factors such as smoking or exposure to chemicals, radiation, or viruses that damage cells' DNA. The mutations cause cells to divide relentlessly or lose their normal ability to die.
Despite the fact that the cancer mortality rate in the U.S. has risen steadily for the past 50 years, scientific advances appear to have begun to turn the tide. 1997 was the first year in the past half century in which fewer Americans died of cancer than the year before-the start of what researchers hope will be a long-term decline in cancer deaths.

Eric P. Winer, MD
Director, Breast Oncology Center

Research
Our group in the Breast Oncology Center (BOC), which includes over 25 physicians and investigators, is dedicated to improving the care of women with breast cancer through the conduct of clinical trials. More than 25 trials - spanning the spectrum of the disease - are currently open to women with breast cancer. Some focus on local treatment and adjuvant systemic therapy, while others explore questions in the preoperative setting. Our group published the first report of a preoperative trial using trastuzumab in women with stage II/III breast cancer. This trial, in turn, led to a series of studies in women with early-stage, HER2-positive disease.

We also test new treatments in women with advanced disease, with the hope that, if effective, they can be used to treat women with early-stage disease to prevent recurrence. Our group is investigating a variety of novel agents that target specific pathways within cancer cells and the surrounding tissue. We incorporate translational research endpoints in the vast majority of our trials to gain a better understanding of molecular factors that may elucidate mechanisms of action and predictors of treatment effect. As a result of our work, we have built a sizeable bank of tumor and serum specimens, which are linked to detailed clinical data for each patient who has received longitudinal care in the program. We plan to expand this effort in the metastatic setting and collect serial biopsies over time to understand the molecular differences between primary and metastatic tumors and the resistance mechanisms that develop over the course of the disease.

Our group is also committed to research that will improve psychosocial functioning of women with early-stage and advanced breast cancer. One recent study seeks to better understand the experience of women newly diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ; another examines issues facing breast cancer survivors. A new cohort study in eastern Massachusetts will focus on young women with breast cancer. We believe that the research output of the BOC, which has increased dramatically over the past 8 years, will continue to expand and have a tangible impact on the disease over the next 5 to 10 years.

Recent Awards
- Claire W. and Richard P. Morse Research Award, 2002
- Joseph Sokal Memorial Lecturer, Duke University, 1999

Biography
Dr. Winer received his MD from Yale University in 1983, and later completed training in internal medicine and served as chief resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He subsequently was a fellow in hematology-oncology at Duke University Medical Center, and from 1989 to 1997 served on the Duke faculty, where he became codirector of the multidisciplinary breast program. In 1997, he joined Brigham and Women's Hospital and DFCI, where he is director of the Breast Oncology Center.

Select Publications
Keating NL, Landrum MB, Ayanian JZ, Winer EP, Guadagnoli E. The association of ambulatory care with breast cancer stage at diagnosis among Medicare beneficiaries. J Gen Intern Med 2005;20:38-44.

Muss HB, Woolf S, Berry D, Cirrincione C, Weiss RB, Budman D, Wood WC, Henderson IC, Hudis C, Winer E, Cohen H, Wheeler J, Norton L. Adjuvant chemotherapy is equally effective for older women and younger women with lymph node-positive breast cancer: The Cancer and Leukemia Group B experience. JAMA 2005;293:1073-81.

Partridge AH, Wong JS, Knudsen K, Gelman R, Sampson E, Gadd M, Bishop K, Harris JR, Winer EP. Offering participants results of a clinical trial: sharing results of a "negative study." Lancet 2005;365:963-4.

Punglia RS, Kuntz KM, Winer E, Weeks JC, Burstein HJ. Optimizing adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women with early stage breast cancer: a decision analysis. J Clin Oncol 2005;23:5178-87.

Harris LN, Kaelin C, Bellon JR, Winer EP. Preoperative therapy for operable breast cancer. In: Harris JR, Lippman ME, Morrow M, Osborne CK, editors. Diseases of the Breast. 3rd Edition. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004. p.929-43.

Partridge AH, Gelber S, Knudsen K, Laufer M, Rosenberg R, Przypyszny M, Rein A, Winer EP. Web-based survey of fertility issues in young women with breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2004;22:4174-83.

Partridge AH, Hackett N, Blood E, Gelman R, Joffe S, Bauer-Wu S, Knudsen K, Emmons K, Collyar D, Schilsky RL, Winer EP. Oncology physician and nurse practices and attitudes regarding offering clinical trial results to study participants. J Natl Cancer Inst 2004;96:629-32.

Burstein HJ, Harris LN, Gelman R, Lester SC, Nunes RA, Kaelin CM, Parker LM, Ellisen LW, Kuter I, Gadd MA, Christian RL, Kennedy PR, Borges VF, Bunnell CA, Younger J, Smith BL, Winer EP. Preoperative therapy with trastuzumab and paclitaxel followed by sequential adjuvant doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide for HER2 overexpressing stage II or III breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2003;21:46-53.

Partridge AH, Burstein HJ, Gelman RS, Marcom PK, Winer EP. Do patients participating in clinical trials want to know study results? J Natl Cancer Inst 2003;95:491-2.

Partridge AH, Wang PS, Winer EP, Avorn JL. Non-adherence with adjuvant tamoxifen therapy in women with early stage-breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2003;21:602-4.

Instructors
Wendy Chen, MD
Sheila Donnelly, MD
Jennifer Ligibel, MD
Nancy Lin, MD
Rochelle Scheib, MD

Associates
Erica Mayer, MD

Dana-Farber's Eric Winer, MD, named chief scientific advisor of Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, has announced the appointment of Eric P. Winer, MD, a nationally known medical oncologist, researcher and educator from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical Center, as its chief scientific advisor.

In announcing Winer's appointment, Komen for the Cure's founder, Nancy G. Brinker, said, "Dr. Eric Winer brings the perfect balance of research, clinical, educational and administrative skills to Komen and its Health Sciences team. The breast cancer world listens to Eric. He is a leader, a brilliant idea person and a gifted clinician, recognized as a role model and guide for coming generations of doctors and researchers. Most importantly, he is deeply devoted to new and better treatments for breast cancer patients."

As he assumes the role of Komen's chief scientific advisor, Winer will maintain his positions as director of the Breast Oncology Center at Dana-Farber. In addition to his duties at Dana-Farber, Winer will retain his position of associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Winer comes to Komen as the organization embarks on a mission to invest another $1 billion over the next decade in breast cancer research and community outreach programs that will move the organization closer to its promise to end breast cancer forever. In recent weeks, Komen announced nearly $82 million dollars in scientific research grants last fiscal year, an increase of 40 percent over the previous year.

Helping to fulfill the Komen promise
"Susan G. Komen for the Cure is committed to helping patients with breast cancer today and eliminating the fear of breast cancer for future generations," said Winer. "With a renewed promise to end breast cancer forever, I'm very enthusiastic about joining the Komen team. I'm bringing with me the insight I've gained from 20 years in working in breast cancer, the last 10 of which have been at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School."

As Komen's chief scientific advisor, Winer will advise the organization on its grants strategy and help plan public policy efforts. He will also advise the organization on the development of new educational messages, assist in shaping organizational responses to emerging breast cancer news and serve as a global spokesperson for Komen. Winer also will help create a small group of top-level scientific and medical advisors that will guide Komen over the years ahead.

Winer's background
Winer is widely published and well known in the international breast cancer community. His research interests stem directly from considerable experience in the clinical arena and the challenges that have been posed by more than 2,000 breast cancer patients he has cared for throughout his career. His primary research focus is on improving the lives of women with breast cancer by understanding the intricacies of the disease process and developing more effective and less toxic treatments. He is a devoted educator, with an ongoing interest in training and mentoring the next generation of clinicians and researchers.

After graduating from Yale University in 1978 with a degree in history and Russian/East European studies, Winer earned his medical degree from Yale School of Medicine in 1983, followed by training in internal medicine at Yale. He moved to Duke University Medical Center in 1987 and completed a fellowship in medical oncology in 1989. On the Duke faculty, he specialized in breast cancer and became co-director of the institution's Multidisciplinary Breast Program. In 1997, Winer moved to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he became director of the Breast Oncology Center and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Winer is the co-chair of the breast cancer committee in the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) and has had wide-ranging experience in numerous national and international breast cancer initiatives.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-800 I'M AWARE.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - Mission Possible Campaign Possible.
A word generally associated with conquering cancer? Dana-Farber believes it is.
Boldly recognizing that the opportunity to conquer cancer is within reach, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has launched a $1 billion comprehensive capital campaign – the largest and most ambitious fundraising campaign in its history.
Mission Possible: The Dana-Farber Campaign to Conquer Cancer was publicly launched Jan. 31, 2007, to secure the financial resources necessary to accelerate the pace of discovery, speed the application of scientific knowledge to help save lives, and expand the Institute's ability to provide its signature total patient care.
This is an unprecedented time in scientific discovery – with the mapping of the human genome and advanced technology – and we have reached a turning point in the battle against cancer. Dana-Farber now has the knowledge and tools necessary to conquer this disease.

To make its mission possible, the Institute seeks investments in these four critical areas:
$450 million for Research and Care
$100 million for Technology
$150 million for its new building, the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care
$300 million for the Jimmy Fund and Unrestricted Funds

For 60 years, it has been our vision to eradicate cancer and the fear it engenders. We have been relentless in our pursuit, and the fruits of our collaborative approach are now being realized. Together, we can make it possible to conquer cancer.