This online course provides a review of the epidemiology and risk factors, screening and treatment of breast cancer. Participants will review four cases from initial presentation for a routine visit to their general internists to screening to work-up and treatment.

NUMBER OF CREDIT HOURS: The Harvard Medical School designates this enduring material for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This course should take approximately 2 hours to complete.

COST: $40.00 for the average learner. Participants living in emerging nations receive a 50% discount or can register for free. See our International Pricing Page for details.

OVERALL LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Review risk factors, work-up, staging, management and surveillance of breast cancer.

CLINICAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Review work-up and management of abnormal breast finding
2. Review risk factors for breast cancer and prevention strategies for patients at high risk for breast cancer
3. Review staging for patients with breast cancer
4. Review treatment options for patients with breast cancer, depending on estrogen, progesterone, and Her2-neu receptor status and stage of disease
5. Review side effects of breast cancer treatment and surveillance of breast cancer survivors

METHOD OF PARTICIPATION:

Registrants participate in the learning process by answering interactive multiple choice questions that are dispersed throughout the case presentation. You must answer a question correctly in order to continue through the course. If you answer a question incorrectly, you will be prompted to try again.

In order to earn credit, physicians must complete the entire educational activity before the termination date (see above). Non-physicians may register for the course but are not eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Instead, non-physicians will earn a certificate of participation after successfully completing the course before its termination date.

COMBINATION OF MEDIA USED:

This internet enduring material is a case-based, interactive presentation comprised mainly of text, interactive questions, and images. A variety of media, including video clips, audio clips, and Flash animation, may be presented. Links to any necessary plugins are provided when necessary, but no plugins are required for general use of the CME website, and you may skip the multimedia presentation(s) within the course if you choose.

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STEVEN COME, MD Course Director

Dr. Come is Medical Director of the Breast Cancer Program and Director of the Hematology-Oncology Ambulatory Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Breast Cancer program and the Breast SPORE at the Harvard/Dana Farber Cancer Center. Dr. Come received his MD at Harvard and served as intern, resident, and chief resident in medicine at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He was a Clinical Associate in the Medicine Branch of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Come’s research interests include the integration of therapies for early breast cancer and optimizing endocrine therapy for this disease. He is presently focussing on the development of new hormonal and biologic agents, cross talk between endocrine and growth factor pathways, and presurgical models to better evaluate breast cancer biology. He has been a principal and co-investigator on numerous Harvard, industry-sponsored, and cooperative group trials. DISCLOSURE: Company: Astra Zeneca; Novartis; Pfizer Type of Relationship: Research Funding Consultant; Consultant; Consultant

CHRISTINA HEROLD, MD Course Director

Dr. Herold is an attending physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Throughout her career thus far, Dr. Herold has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the care of breast cancer patients including the development of optimal treatment strategies and clinical education. Dr. Herold trained at Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania prior to completing her hematology/oncology fellowship at Duke University. At BIDMC Dr. Herold treats patients in the breast medical oncology clinic and is actively engaged in the breast cancer clinical research program. She has authored several peer-reviewed publications in breast cancer research. Dr. Herold is also enthusiastically involved in the hematology/oncology fellowship training program at BIDMC and enjoys precepting fellows in the breast cancer clinic. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

NADINE TUNG, MD Course Director

Dr. Tung is Director of the Cancer Risk and Prevention Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Breast Cancer program and the Breast SPORE at the Harvard/Dana Farber Cancer Center. Dr. Tung received her MD at Harvard and served as intern, resident, and chief resident in medicine at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and completed her fellowship in Hematology / Oncology at Beth Israel as well. Dr.Tung’s research interests include prevention and treatment of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers as well as hereditary and environmental factors which influence cancer expression in these women. She is currently a co-investigator in clinical trials using PARP inhibitors and is active in studies evaluating the optimal treatment of triple negative breast cancers. She was a P.I. at Beth Israel for the STAR (P-2) trial evaluating the effectiveness of tamoxifen and raloxifene in breast cancer prevention. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

ZSOFIA K. STADLER, MD Course Contributor

Dr. Stadler is a graduate of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and has completed the Clinical Effectiveness Program at the Harvard School of Public Health. She received her internal medicine training at Brigham and Women's Hospital and subsequently completed her hematology/oncology fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research interests focus on the identification, genetic evaluation and medical management of patients with a hereditary predisposition to cancer. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

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STEPHEN A. CANNISTRA, MD Reviewer

Dr. Cannistra is the Director of Gynecologic Medical Oncology and is an accomplished scholar in gynecologic malignancies, with a national and international reputation in the field of ovarian cancer. His group’s research efforts focus on the development of novel approaches to the treatment of newly diagnosed and relapsed ovarian cancer. Several investigator-initiated trials have already been developed in his program, including the use of an oral VEGF-R inhibitor for treatment of marker-only relapse, as well as consolidation approaches using oral topotecan in patients who have achieved complete clinical remission. Current clinical trials are designed to target the angiogenic pathway, using bevacizumab in combination with first-line chemotherapy, or as a single agent in relapsed disease. More recently, his group was the first to identify a microarray gene expression profile, referred to as the OCPP, that has powerful and independent prognostic value in ovarian cancer. His group's ongoing work in this area has revealed other gene expression patterns which are predictive of response to chemotherapy, as defined by the results of second-look laparoscopies. This work is made possible through the use of a large ovarian cancer tissue bank and correlative clinical database that Dr. Cannistra has developed over the past decade. Dr. Cannistra is a co-Principal Investigator on the DF/HCC Ovarian Cancer SPORE, serves as an Associate Editor and Medical Science Consulting Editor for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and has served as program chair for the Gynecologic Cancer Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He also serves on the Program Committee of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists and is media spokesperson for ASCO in the fields of tumor biology and gynecologic malignancies. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

ERICA L. MAYER, MD Reviewer

Dr. Mayer is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. She completed internal medicine and medical oncology training at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where she is currently a staff physician in the Breast Oncology Center. Dr. Mayer is also an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is an active clinical researcher, designing and overseeing local and national trials evaluating the role of novel agents in the treatment of breast cancer. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

LOWELL E. SCHNIPPER, MD Reviewer

Dr. Schnipper is a Professor of Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant relationships with commercial entities.

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SANJIV CHOPRA, MD Planner

Dr. Sanjiv Chopra is Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School and Senior Consultant in Hepatology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. In his role as Faculty Dean for Continuing Education, Dr. Chopra provides oversight and leadership of the Department and oversees the academic development of our programs. Dr. Chopra is an experienced clinician, researcher, and educator. In his research roles, he has served both as a principal investigator as well as co-investigator. He has more than 120 publications and five books to his credit, addressing topics in disease states, patient care, and leadership. Dr. Chopra’s teaching experience is extensive, and he has won numerous teaching awards for his work with medical students, residents and physicians. Currently, he directs and speaks at 10 multiday CME courses, nine of which are through HMS. For his full bio, please click here. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

ANDI LONG, EDM Planner

Andi Long directs the Department of Continuing Education’s Distance Learning group, which offers a variety of online continuing medical education programs to health care professionals around the world. Andi develops strategies for new pilot programs and systematically rolls out new distance learning initiatives and has a leadership role in IT planning and other online processes for HMS DCE. She oversees the day-to-day operations of each distance learning activity and ensures ACCME compliance across all enduring programs. She has had the privilege of working with hundreds of Harvard Medical School Faculty members to develop high-quality, engaging online programs that physicians in more than 170 countries have taken part in. Andi earned her Ed.M. in Technology, Innovation, and Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and graduated from Bridgewater State College, summa cum laude, with a degree in English. Her professional interests focus on teaching and learning with new technologies and online course development. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

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NUMBER OF CREDITS: 2 

The Harvard Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Harvard Medical School designates this enduring material for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This course should take approximately 2 hours to complete.

Within 2 weeks of completing the course, you will receive your certificate via email.

Click the image to view a sample of the certificate

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