Kazuaki Takabe, MD, PhD, FACS
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Chief of Breast Surgery, Kazuaki Takabe, MD, PhD, FACS, delivered the keynote address on immunotherapy for breast cancer at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Clinical Oncology (JSCO) in Fukuoka. During the meeting, Dr. Takabe also led a discussion on the role of Japanese oncologists in global oncology and how JSCO’s American counterpart—ASCO—is addressing the challenge of developing future leaders.
“Immunotherapy is becoming another major tool to fight many cancers, but breast cancer has been behind on this because it’s a cancer where we see very little lymphocyte infiltration, a major factor in whether these treatments will be effective,” noted Dr. Takabe, who is also The Alfiero Foundation Endowed Chair in Breast Oncology and Professor of Oncology at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. “Currently, immunotherapies for breast cancer are effective in only about 3% of patients. But we have a lot of opportunity to apply what we know toward making immunotherapy work for a much larger share of patients with the disease.”
Dr. Takabe joined Roswell Park’s faculty in 2016. His background includes training in general surgery both at the University of California, San Diego, and in Japan; specialized training in surgical oncology and service as an attending surgical oncologist and faculty member at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine; and postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. ■
