🎗️ Harvard Breast Cancer: New Horizons, Current Controversies 2025
📌 Overview
The Harvard Breast Cancer: New Horizons, Current Controversies 2025 is a cutting-edge, multidisciplinary oncology course designed to deliver the latest breakthroughs in breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship care.
This program brings together experts in medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, and pathology to translate rapidly evolving research into practical, evidence-based clinical strategies. It emphasizes real-world application through tumor boards, case discussions, and interactive panels.
🎯 Target Audience
- Medical, surgical & radiation oncologists
- Breast surgeons & general surgeons
- Internists & primary care physicians
- Nurse practitioners & physician assistants
- Oncology nurses & multidisciplinary cancer teams
🧠 What You’ll Learn
🧬 Modern Breast Cancer Therapies
- Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in HER2+ and HER2-low disease
- CDK4/6 inhibitors and survival outcomes
- AKT pathway inhibitors & targeted therapies
- Oral SERDs (e.g., ESR1 mutation-targeted therapy)
🧪 Precision Oncology & Diagnostics
- ctDNA and molecular diagnostics
- Genomic testing for treatment selection
- Risk stratification and personalized therapy
🎗️ Surgical & Radiation Advances
- Oncoplastic breast reconstruction
- Axillary management after neoadjuvant therapy
- Cryoablation vs surgery
- Evolution of radiation therapy techniques
💊 Immunotherapy & Advanced Disease
- Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) strategies
- Immunotherapy applications and side-effect management
- Treatment sequencing in metastatic disease
🧑⚕️ Survivorship & Supportive Care
- Managing treatment-related toxicities
- Fertility, lifestyle, and long-term survivorship
- Addressing disparities in breast cancer outcomes
📚 Key Learning Objectives
- Apply latest clinical trial data to treatment decisions
- Select appropriate neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies
- Integrate surgical, radiation, and systemic treatments
- Utilize genetic and molecular testing effectively
- Optimize symptom management and survivorship care
📖 Topics Covered
Day 1 – Advances & Foundations
- Radiation therapy evolution & future
- Breast pathology & molecular diagnostics
- HER2-positive breast cancer updates
- Supportive care & genetics
- Tumor board: early breast cancer
Day 2 – Advanced Treatment Strategies
- Surgical innovations & reconstruction
- Immunotherapy in early breast cancer
- Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)
- ER-positive breast cancer treatment strategies
- CDK4/6 inhibitor debates & ASCO highlights
⭐ Why This Course Stands Out
- ✔️ Covers latest FDA-approved therapies & breakthroughs
- ✔️ Strong focus on precision oncology & targeted treatments
- ✔️ Includes tumor boards & real clinical decision-making
- ✔️ Multidisciplinary (surgery + oncology + pathology)
- ✔️ Highly relevant for modern breast cancer practice
Topics:
Day 1 – Thursday, July 17, 2025
Theme: Advances in Radiation Therapy, Pathology, and Breast Cancer Management
Welcoming Remarks
Speaker: Harold Burstein
Time: 8:00 – 8:15 am
Session I: Radiation Oncology
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 8:15 – 8:35 am | 50 Years of Radiation Therapy | Abram Recht |
| 8:35 – 8:55 am | Standard Radiation Therapy: The Long and the Short | Julia Wong |
| 8:55 – 9:15 am | The Future of Breast Radiation Therapy | Atif Khan |
| 9:15 – 9:35 am | Radiopharmaceuticals | Heather Jacene |
| 9:35 – 9:50 am | Q&A | Abram Recht, Atif Khan, Julia Wong, Heather Jacene |
Session II: Pathology
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 9:50 – 10:10 am | Lobular Breast Cancer | Stuart Schnitt |
| 10:10 – 10:30 am | ctDNA: The Evolving Role for Molecular Diagnostics | Stefania Morganti |
| 10:30 – 10:45 am | Q&A | Stuart Schnitt, Stefania Morganti |
Special Lecture
Time: 11:00 – 11:40 am
Speaker(s): Sydney Smith & Julie Bosworth
Topic: What’s New in Supportive Care: Management of Gastrointestinal Side Effects
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00 – 11:20 am | Essentials of Germline Genetics | Judy Garber |
| 11:20 – 11:40 am | Q&A | Julie Bosworth, Sydney Smith, Judy Garber |
Schwartz Rounds: A Complex Case
Speaker: Ann Partridge
Time: 11:50 am – 12:20 pm
Q&A: 12:20 – 12:30 pm
Tumor Board: Early Breast Cancer
| Time | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|
| 12:40 – 1:40 pm | Harold Burstein, Faina Nakhlis, Julia Wong, Brittany Bychkovsky, Adrienne Waks, Filipa Lynce, Elizabeth Mittendorf |
Session III: HER2 Positive Breast Cancer
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1:50 – 2:10 pm | New Approaches in Early Stage HER2 Positive Breast Cancer | Adrienne Waks |
| 2:10 – 2:30 pm | The Progress Continues: Late Stage HER2 Positive Breast Cancer | Sarah Sammons |
| 2:30 – 2:50 pm | Can We Cure Metastatic Breast Cancer? | Nancy Lin |
| 2:50 – 3:05 pm | Q&A | Sara Tolaney, Sarah Sammons, Nancy Lin, Adrienne Waks |
Special Lecture
Time: 3:20 – 4:35 pm
Speaker(s): Erica Warner, Filipa Lynce, Antonio Giordano, Jennifer Ligibel
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 3:20 – 3:45 pm | Racial Differences in Breast Cancer Survival Between Black and White Women According to Tumor Subtype | Erica Warner |
| 3:45 – 4:10 pm | Inflammatory Breast Cancer | Filipa Lynce |
| 4:10 – 4:35 pm | Early Drug Discovery in Breast Cancer | Antonio Giordano |
| 4:35 – 5:00 pm | Lifestyle/Diet/Exercise in Breast Cancer Patients | Jennifer Ligibel |
Reception
Time: 5:00 – 6:00 pm
Day 2 – Friday, July 18, 2025
Theme: Surgical Interventions and Advanced Breast Cancer Treatment
Session IV: Surgery
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 – 8:20 am | Oncoplastic Reconstruction: Common Indications and Outcomes | Indranil Sinha |
| 8:20 – 8:40 am | The Axilla After Neoadjuvant Therapy: How Much Is Too Much? | Elizabeth Mittendorf |
| 8:40 – 9:00 am | Implications of the SOUND Trial | Olga Kantor |
| 9:00 – 9:20 am | Cryoblation Instead of Surgery | Francys Verdial |
| 9:20 – 9:35 am | Q&A | Barbara Smith, Indranil Sinha, Olga Kantor, Francys Verdial, Elizabeth Mittendorf |
Schlager Lecture: Immunotherapy in Early Breast Cancer: Today and Tomorrow
Speaker: Marleen Kok
Time: 9:35 – 10:20 am
Session V: Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 10:35 – 10:55 am | Small TNBCs: How Small Is Small Enough? | Steven Isakoff |
| 10:55 – 11:15 am | Antibody Drug Conjugates in TNBC and Refractory ER Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer | Ana Garrido-Castro |
| 11:15 – 11:35 am | Immunotherapy in TNBC | Guilherme Nader Marta |
| 11:35 – 11:55 am | Managing Endocrine Side Effects of Immunotherapy | Elad Sharon |
| 11:55 am – 12:10 pm | Q&A | Steven Isakoff, Ana Garrido-Castro, Guilherme Nader Marta, Elad Sharon |
Tumor Board: Advanced Breast Cancer
| Time | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|
| 12:20 – 1:30 pm | Rachel Freedman, Barbara Smith, Sarah Sammons, Erica Mayer, Laura Spring, Leticia Varella, Guilherme Nader Marta, Daniel Abravanel |
Session VI: ER Positive Breast Cancer
| Time | Session Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1:40 – 2:00 pm | New Approaches in Early ER Positive Breast Cancer | Erica Mayer |
| 2:00 – 2:20 pm | PI3K Inhibitors in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Choosing the Right Target | Dejan Juric |
| 2:20 – 2:40 pm | Advanced ER Positive Breast Cancer: A Surfeit of Choices | Seth Wander |
| 2:40 – 3:00 pm | Emerging Antibody Drug Conjugates in ER Positive Breast Cancer | Paolo Tarantino |
| 3:00 – 3:15 pm | Q&A | Erica Mayer, Seth Wander, Paolo Tarantino, Dejan Juric |
CDK4/6: Which One? For Whom? – Debate
Speakers: Shana Berwick, Laura Spring
Time: 3:15 – 3:30 pm
ASCO Highlights
Speaker: Harold Burstein
Time: 3:30 – 4:25 pm
Closing Remarks
Speaker: Harold Burstein
Time: 4:25 – 4:45 pm



