HER 2 Positive Directed Therapies in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Safety and Efficacy Considerations

Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, FACP, is 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 the Breast Oncology Program. Dr Hurvitz earned her MD from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She served her internship/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. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. 

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

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director for the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She received her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and fellowships in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She also earned her master’s degree in public health from Harvard School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the development of novel therapies in the treatment of breast cancer. Dr Tolaney is Principal Investigator of many therapeutic clinical trials and translational studies for breast cancer. She serves as Breast Cancer Leader for the Early Drug Development Center and Center for Immuno-Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr Tolaney has developed many novel immunotherapy combination trials, many of which are currently ongoing. She serves on the Scientific Review Committee at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Leader of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Metastatic Breast Track Scientific Review Committee. She is the recipient of the Lee M. Nadler “Extra Mile” Award, and the Innovation Award for Clinical Faculty.