Lyndsay N. Harris, MD

Dr. Harris' project is designed to better understand the mechanisms of response and resistance to some of the most commonly used agents for breast cancer, paclitaxel (Taxol) and trastuzumab (Herceptin). She and her colleagues have developed techniques to perform genome-wide profiling from archived tissue for patterns of gene expression, DNA amplifications and deletions, multiplex protein markers and breast cancer stem cells. Using these techniques, they will profile tumors from women treated with paclitaxel+/- trastuzumab on several controlled clinical trials to determine define markers of response to these therapies. In this way the researchers hope to determine which patients will achieve the greatest benefit and which patients to offer alternative treatments.

Mid-Year Progress Report:
In the first six months of the project, Dr. Harris' team has received and extracted RNA and DNA from 300 tumor blocks from two clinical trials, CALGB 9342 and 9840. They have performed pilot studies to demonstrate that Illumina Arrays are superior to Affymetrix Arrays and have developed a gene list with Drs. Perou, Tuck and Harris to create a custom Illumina DASL™ array. In addition, they have performed a pilot study using DNA from archived tissue hybridized to Agilent CGH Arrays. They have shown the characteristic 'saw tooth' pattern of a triple negative tumor using this platform as published by Hicks et al. This platform will be used for further analysis. Finally, the Rimm Lab has developed proteomic biomarkers of response to paclitaxel and trastuzumab which will be applied to this cohort. The researchers look forward, in the next 6 months, to profiling the cohort of 300 tumors in an effort to validate and discover new biomarkers which predict response to paclitaxel and trastuzumab.

Bio:
Dr. Lyndsay Harris is a nationally recognized expert in breast cancer treatment and research. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Medical Oncology, at the Yale School of Medicine and the Director of the Yale Cancer Center Breast Cancer Program. Additionally, she serves as Co-Director of the Yale-New Haven Breast Center.

Dr. Harris has focused her research into the molecular classifications of breast cancer and the development of novel strategies to evaluate and treat breast cancer. She is the principal investigator for several phase I, II, and III clinical trials for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Previously, Dr. Harris served as an Assistant Professor at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and an Attending Physician at the Breast Oncology Disease Center at Dana Farber.

Dr. Harris currently serves a leadership role on several prominent national committees, including as the Associate Chair for Breast Cancer, ASCO Tumor Marker Guidelines Subcommittee, a member of the Cooperative Breast Cancer Tissue Resource Panel of the National Cancer Institute, and a cadre member of the Department of Defense Integration Panel.

Dr. Harris received both her undergraduate degree and Medical Degree from the University of Alberta. She fulfilled her internship requirements at the University of Alberta and served as a fellow in medical oncology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Harris completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Georgetown University Medical Center.