Decoding Clinical Trial Data and Real-World Evidence in mBC, with a Focus on Individualized Care

Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Co-Director of the Santa Monica-UCLA Outpatient Oncology Practice, Medical Director of the Clinical Research Unit of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA, and Director of Breast Oncology. Dr. Hurvitz earned her MD from the University of Southern California. She served her internship and residency at UCLA, was Chief Resident of internal medicine, and completed a hematology-oncology fellowship at UCLA in 2006. Dr. Hurvitz is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology.

Dr. Hurvitz has received numerous awards over the past few years, among them the Marni Levine Memorial Breast Cancer Research Award from 2008 through 2015. She has an active clinical practice specializing in the treatment of women with breast cancer. She is involved in designing, implementing, and leading multiple national and international clinical trials testing new targeted therapies, and leads the preclinical evaluation of novel breast cancer targets in the Translation Oncology Research Laboratory at UCLA.

In 2018, Jamil was diagnosed with breast cancer after she had a cold and lingering cough brought her in to see her primary doctor. Her doctor initially prescribed an antibiotic, but after a few weeks she returned as she wasn’t feeling better. A pinch in her side prompted her to ask for an ultrasound, as Jamil has a family history of gallbladder and appendix issues. During the ultrasound, the doctors discovered lesions on her liver. After a mammogram and breast biopsy, they determined Jamil had Stage IV de novo metastatic breast cancer that had spread all over her body except for her brain and her spine.

At the time of her diagnosis, Jamil was 39 years old with three sons at home, her youngest was 5 years old. Her husband is disabled after his experience with colon cancer and a liver transplant, so it was important that Jamil continue to be her family’s caregiver through her treatment. Jamil underwent one year of chemotherapy without taking time off from work or disclosing her breast cancer diagnosis. In addition to chemo, Jamil underwent an oophorectomy and after one year she had no evidence of disease.

Jamil is the founder and CEO of The Chrysalis Initiative. Jamil founded The Chrysalis Initiative which provides guidance on how to thrive with breast cancer. Jamil’s extensive research to understand breast cancer and comprehensive breast cancer care became the foundation for The Chrysalis Initiative. Mentoring and coaching 50 women led her to creating a curriculum for comprehensive cancer care specifically for Black women. Today, The Chrysalis Initiative offers a variety of services including One-on-One Coaching, Provider Equity Assessments, Training & Education, and Student Training Programs.

Jamil is also Board President of METAvivor Research and Support, Inc. She is a Young Advocate Alum, Board Member of Living Beyond Breast Cancer, and Advisory Chair of the <i>Knowledge is Power: Understanding Black Breast Cancer</i> series. She is a policy and science advocate with Susan G. Komen.

In addition, Jamil is a member and patient advisor of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance and is a Project LEAD graduate and proposal reviewer for the Breast Cancer Research program with the Department of Defense. She has been featured in People magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer the Philadelphia Tribune, national campaigns for Anthropologie, Novartis, Pfizer, and Cancer and Careers, as well as on CBS News and Good Morning America.

Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH, is the Chief of the Division of Breast Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and is internationally recognized for her research and education leadership in breast cancer. She also serves as Associate Director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers and is a Senior Physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Tolaney received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her medical degree from UC San Francisco. She subsequently completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and fellowships in hematology and medical oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She obtained her Masters in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health.

Her research focuses on the development of novel therapies in the treatment of breast cancer and developing more effective and less toxic treatment approaches. Her work has demonstrated that a relatively low-risk regimen is beneficial in women with early stage node-negative HER2-positive cancers, and this work has been incorporated into national and international guidelines. She has developed several follow-up studies looking at novel approaches to early stage HER2-positive disease and has also played a significant role in development of CDK 4/6 inhibitors, antibody drug conjugates, and immunotherapy in breast cancer. She currently chairs several registration studies in these areas and also leads many investigator-initiated trials.  She is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications with manuscripts included in many prestigious journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and JAMA Oncology.