Tadahiko Shien1, Lily Yu2, Margo Chen2
1Division of Thoracic Surgery, Heart Institute (InCor), Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo, Brazil; 2TCR Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Margo Chen. TCR Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: tcr@amepc.org.
Editor’s note
Translational Cancer Research (TCR) has published a number of special series in recent years, receiving overwhelming responses from academic readers around the world. Our success cannot be achieved without the contribution of our distinguished guest editors. This year JTD launched a new column, “Interviews with Guest Editors”, to better present our guest editors and to further promote the special series. We also hope to express our heartfelt gratitude for their tremendous effort and to further uncover the stories behind the special series.
The special series “Loco-regional Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer” (1) led by Dr. Tadahiko Shien (Figure 1) and Dr. Kaori Terata has attracted many readers since its publication. This special series aimed to explore using Loco-regional therapy for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Loco-regional therapies are helpful for managing local symptoms in metastatic breast cancer but lack evidence for survival prolongation and are cautiously applied to avoid complications, though they can still provide meaningful clinical improvements when used judiciously. At this moment, we are honored to have an interview with Dr. Shien to share his scientific career experience and insights on this special series.
Figure 1 Dr. Tadahiko Shien
Expert introduction
Dr. Tadahiko Shien MD, Ph.D. (Ph.D.-surgical medicine) is an Associate Professor at the Okayama University Hospital, director of department of Breast and Endocrine therapy, and the group secretariat of the JCOG Breast cancer study group. He is a surgical oncologist researching the treatment strategy for de-novo stage IV breast cancer (PI of JCOG1017 study) and Oligometastasis. His clinical and research interests primarily focus on breast surgical oncology, tumor biology, clinical trial, and translational research.
He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Japan Surgical Society (JSS), Japan Society of Clinical Oncology (JSCO), Japan breast cancer society (JBCS), Japan Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO), International Society of Surgery (ISS), Japan Oncoplastic Breast Surgery Society (JOBSS), Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery (JAES), and Breast Surgery International (BSI). His board-certified specialties are JSS, JSCO, and JAES, and the Board of JBCS and JAES.
He graduated from Kagawa Medical University (Kagawa, Japan) in 1999 and got his Doctor of Philosophy from Okayama University graduate school (Okayama, Japan) in 2005. He was trained in surgical oncology at National Cancer Center (Tokyo, Japan) from 2003 to 2008. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2005.
Interview
TCR: What inspired you to become a breast and endocrine surgeon?
Prof. Shien: Multidisciplinary treatment of breast cancer is performed. In addition to surgery, systemic therapy and radiation therapy can be skillfully combined to increase the cure rate. In addition, the ability to treat each patient in consideration of the QOL after cure is also an attraction of breast cancer treatment. The same is true for surgery, and the appeal of breast cancer surgery is that it requires not only curable resection but also surgery that considers cosmetic performance.
TCR: You discussed the advances in systemic therapy, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, that can improve the survival of patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC). How do you select the most appropriate systemic therapy for each patient?
Prof. Shien: Fortunately, many effective drugs for breast cancer have been developed one after another. These drugs need to be used safely and effectively. The primary purpose of treatment is to cure early-stage breast cancer, and to prolong life and alleviate symptoms for metastatic breast cancer. However, adverse events differ depending on each drug, and it is desirable to make a choice that considers the patient's values in consideration of risks and benefits, which may impair QOL. However, in recent years, the effect of drugs has become very high, and there are not a few cases that can be cured even with metastatic breast cancer. In such cases, it is necessary to make a decision to actively treat even metastatic breast cancer.
TCR: It has been a long time since the publication of the special series. Could you share with us some of the recent advances in MBC that you find particularly exciting or promising?
Prof. Shien: The selection of curable metastatic disease and new treatment strategy to cure MBC and new axillary management of clinical node positive breast cancer.
TCR: The special series also provides some insights into the future prospects of MBC. Looking towards the future, what do you believe is the most important direction for MBC? Specifically, what areas of research or treatment do you think hold the greatest promise for improving outcomes for patients?
Prof. Shien: New treatment strategy for HER2 positive MBC and treatment strategy according to liquid biopsy.
Reference
- Loco-regional Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer. Available online: https://tcr.amegroups.org/post/view/loco-regional-therapy-for-metastatic-breast-cancer