Irene Kuter, M.D., D.Phil., received her BA and DPhil from Oxford University and her M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
She is trained in hematology and oncology, and is currently a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor of
Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
In her presentation, Dr. Kuter looks at some of the risk factors behind the recent rise in breast cancer as well as the
variety of preventative measures and treatments available to at-risk populations and current breast cancer patients.
Over the last 60 years, states Dr. Kuter, there has been a slow, gradual increase in the global incidence of breast
cancer. And, compared to other cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, lung cancer is the leading cause of death by
cancer in women. Says Dr. Kuter, early detection, surgical treatments, and a variety drug and chemo-prevention therapies are paying off,
with over 85% of women who develop breast cancer surviving.
According to current cancer research, a variety of factors contribute to increased risk of breast cancer. Dr. Kuter
describes risk factors such as age, birth location, hormonal causes, genetic factors, carcinogenic exposure, prior occurrence of breast
cancer, and analyses the efficacy of treatment and preventative options such as pre-cancer screening, lifestyle change, surgical
intervention, and drugs such as tamoxifen, raloxofene, and aromatase inhibitors.
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