Odette Cancer Program

Administrative Assistant: Fatima Malik
Phone: 416-480-4834
Email: fatima.malik@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

• MD, 1989, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• FRCP(C), 1995, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Canada
• M.Sc., 2004, Clinical Epidemiology, Health Policy Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Odette Cancer Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Associate professor, department of radiation oncology, University of Toronto
• Adjunct scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences

Research Foci:

• Health services
• Population-based studies
• Breast cancer

Research Summary:

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) represents 20 – 40% of newly diagnosed breast cancers. DCIS itself is not life threatening, however some women with DCIS will develop life-threatening invasive breast cancer. At the present time, we are unable to identify which women will progress to invasive cancer due to small sample size in many studies and variable pathologic evaluation of specimens. Therefore, all women with DCIS undergo surgical treatment often followed by radiation.

This study will establish the largest cohort of DCIS in the world and will be the only population-based study of DCIS with full description of treatment and outcomes and will include complete pathology review. The results of this study will help identify women with DCIS at greatest risk of recurrence, and will facilitate targeting of treatments to those at risk while avoiding unnecessary morbidity for the majority of women with DCIS who will never die of breast cancer.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Rakovitch E, Pignol J-P, Chartier C, Ezer M, Verma S, Dranitsaris G, Clemons M. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Is Associated with An Increased Perception of Breast Cancer Risk and Death. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 90(2):139-148, 2005.
2. Rakovitch E, Mihai A, Pignol J-P, Hanna W, Kwinter J, Chartier C, Ackerman I, Kim J, Pritchard K, Paszat L. Is Expert Pathology Assessment Necessary for the Management of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ? Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 87(3):265-272, 2004
3. Rakovitch E, Tsao M, Ung Y, Pignol J-P, Cheung P, Chow E. A Comparison of the Efficacy and Acute Toxicity of Weekly Versus Daily Chemoradiation For Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, 58(1):196-203, 2004.
4. Rakovitch E, Franssen E, Kim J, Ackerman I, Pignol J-P, Paszat L, Pritchard K, Ho C, Redelmeier D. A Comparison of Risk Perception and Psychological Morbidity In Women With Ductal Carcinoma In Situ And Early Invasive Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 77(3):285-293, 2003.
5. Rakovitch E, Wright B, Shumak R, Catzavelos C, Holloway C, Kim J. Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. Current Problems in Cancer 24(3):93-176, 2000.

Related News and Stories:

• Resounding approval: Sunnybrook Research Institute's success rate in CIHR competition soars past national average (Jan. 25, 2018)
• The power of choice (SRI Magazine, 2017)
• Individualizing breast cancer therapy: New technologies can deliver highly specific information about a therapy’s effectiveness in days, not months; and help women with DCIS decide on the best course of action (SRI Magazine, 2016)
• Breast Cancer Recurrence at Higher Rate for Young Women with DCIS (October 7, 2009)
• Underestimating Overtreatment: An SRI scientist oversees a population-based analysis to improve our knowledge of a misunderstood breast cancer (August 14, 2006)

Related Links:

• Breast Cancer
• Department of radiation oncology
• Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences profile