Titles and Affiliations
Director of Yale Cancer Center
Physician-in-Chief, Smilow Cancer Hospital
Alfred Gilman Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
Member, BCRF Scientific Advisory Board
Research area
Using artificial intelligence to guide active surveillance for suspicious breast findings in older women, reducing unnecessary biopsies and treatment.
Impact
Breast cancer screening often identifies abnormalities that may never become life-threatening, particularly in older women, yet most women still undergo biopsies, surgery, radiation, or other treatments that can cause pain, anxiety, complications, functional decline, and reduced quality of life. Current screening approaches do not adequately distinguish aggressive cancers from slow-growing lesions that could safely be monitored rather than treated. Dr. Winer’s research aims to develop a new, less invasive approach to managing suspicious breast findings in women aged 70 and older by combining artificial intelligence (AI) with active surveillance. This work builds on the team’s earlier development and validation of an AI-based imaging tool capable of identifying slow-growing, hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancers on mammography with greater than 90% specificity, including strong performance in women over age 70.
What’s next
Dr. Winer will conduct a pilot phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate whether an AI-guided surveillance strategy is acceptable to patients, feasible to implement in clinical practice, and safe compared to standard care. The study will enroll women aged 70 and older who have suspicious findings on screening mammography, using a previously developed AI algorithm to identify lesions that appear low-risk. Women whose lesions are classified as low-risk will be eligible for active surveillance, involving imaging follow-up every six months over a two-year period. Researchers will measure whether this surveillance approach reduces the number of biopsies performed while maintaining good cancer outcomes, alongside assessments of quality of life, anxiety, health care use, and patient satisfaction. By testing whether AI can help identify women who can safely avoid invasive procedures, this project aims to move toward more personalized breast cancer care and reduce unnecessary treatment for older women.
Biography
Eric P. Winer, MD, is the Director of Yale Cancer Center and Physician-in-Chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven. Dr. Winer is an internationally renowned expert in breast cancer whose research has won numerous awards and changed the face of the disease. He serves as the co-chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Breast Cancer Steering Committee that oversees the breast cancer clinical trials sponsored by the NCI. He has also been recognized for his mentoring efforts and was the recipient of the William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School in 2020.
Dr. Winer is a graduate of Yale College, with a degree in History and Russian/East European Studies. He subsequently obtained his medical degree from Yale School of Medicine, followed by training in internal medicine at Yale. He completed a fellowship in medical oncology at Duke University Medical Center and remained on the Duke Faculty until 1997. He then spent 24 years at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Winer held the Thompson Chair in Breast Cancer Research and served as chief clinical development officer, and senior vice president for medical affairs at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School until returning to Yale in 2022.
