Novel Biomarkers in the Continuum of Breast Cancer

Vered Stearns is a Professor of Oncology and the Co-Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where she also holds the Breast Cancer Research Chair in Oncology. Dr. Stearns is an expert in novel drug investigation—her long-term research goal is to improve current therapies by individualizing strategies for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Her main research includes utilization of biomarkers to predict response to standard regimens used to treat and prevent breast cancer and to introduce new treatments. While administering standard chemotherapy in the preoperative setting, Dr. Stearns examines molecular markers and functional imaging to assist in the early determination of sensitivity or resistance to different treatments. Dr. Stearns and colleagues from the Consortium On Breast Cancer Pharamcogenomics (COBRA) were the first to evaluate the role of genetic variants in candidate genes such as CYP2D6 in tamoxifen metabolism, safety, and efficacy. The work has been extended to evaluate the role of genetic variants in aromatase inhibitor-associated outcomes. Dr. Stearns, who received numerous grants and awards to fund her innovative research, was a recipient of early career awards, including a Clinical Research Training Grant from the American Cancer Society, and was one of the first five recipients of the prestigious Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award. Subsequently, she was the inaugural recipient of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Advanced Clinical Research Award. She is an Editorial Board Member of Clinical Cancer Research, Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, and ONCOLOGY. Dr. Stearns’ work has been presented in key national and international meetings. She has published more than 150 scientific publications, which have been cited extensively.

1 Genomic Biomarkers for Cancer Risk.- 2 Epigenetic Biomarkers of Breast Cancer Risk: Across the Breast Cancer Prevention Continuum.- 3 Incorporating Biomarkers in Studies of Chemoprevention.- 4 Breast Molecular Profiling and Radiotherapy Considerations.- 5 Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers of Endocrine Responsiveness For Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer.- 6 Biomarkers for predicting response to Anti-HER2 Agents.- 7 Intratumor Heterogeneity in Breast Cancer.- 8 Intratumor Heterogeneity in Breast Cancer.- 9 Pharmacogenetic Predictors of Response.- 10 Metabolomics in Breast Cancer: Current Status and Perspectives.- 11 Circulating Tumor Cells.- 12 Circulating Plasma Tumor DNA.