Titles and Affiliations
Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health
Associate Director for Population Sciences, Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center
Scientific Director of the Epidemiology and Clinical Research Informatics Shared Resource
Research area
Understanding the genetic and molecular signatures associated with a higher risk of developing invasive breast cancer.
Impact
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a premalignant lesion, sometimes referred to as “stage 0” breast cancer. Estimates of DCIS cases that advance to invasive breast cancer range from 20-50 percent. Currently, the standard of care for DCIS is to treat it like early-stage breast cancer, typically with the combination of surgery, radiation, and hormone therapy, depending on the specific case. Researchers have raised concerns about overtreating DCIS and have debated whether the risk of it progressing to invasive breast cancer outweighs the impact of treatment on a patient’s quality of life. Current clinical criteria established for DCIS do not sufficiently predict a patient’s likelihood of developing invasive breast cancer. Dr. Rohan is using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify which DCIS cases are most likely to progress, allowing for more personalized and less invasive care.
Progress Thus Far
Dr. Rohan and his team are applying AI to previously collected routine diagnostic tissue images to uncover novel tissue-based markers of invasive breast cancer risk. The team is especially focused on breast tissue composition and cellular senescence, a state where cells stop dividing. They are developing and validating an AI algorithm that can distinguish tissue types and establishing that senescence patterns are consistent across different tissue regions, allowing for more streamlined analysis.
What’s next
Over the next year, this team will focus on finishing studies of breast tissue features and cell aging in DCIS lesions to further understand who is more likely to later develop invasive breast cancer. They will also expand their use of AI to study how the immune system within the breast may influence cancer risk, both in women with benign breast disease and DCIS.
Biography
Thomas E. Rohan, MBBS, PhD, DHSc is the Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, Associate Director for Population Sciences in the Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center (MECC), and Scientific Director of the Epidemiology and Clinical Research Informatics Shared Resource at MECC. He is a past member of the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Counselors, and he is on the editorial board of several journals. He is a cancer epidemiologist with extensive experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of studies examining the genetic, molecular, nutritional, and hormonal factors in a wide range of cancers, especially breast cancer. He has published widely on these topics and has co-edited books on cancer precursors and cervical cancer. Dr. Rohan has extensive experience conducting translational studies that involve multiple centers and investigators that require careful planning and coordination.
