Armando E. Giuliano, MD
Armando E. Giuliano, MD, will receive the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award during the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). Dr. Giuliano is being recognized for his pioneering work on sentinel lymph node biopsy for patients with breast cancer, which has transformed the surgical management of this disease.
Dr. Giuliano is Professor of Surgery and the Linda and Jim Lippman Chair in Surgical Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he also serves as Chief of Breast Surgical Oncology; Regional Medical Director for Cedars-Sinai Cancer, Breast Oncology; Associate Director of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute; and Co-Director of the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center–A Project of Women’s Guild.
ACOSOG Z0010 and Z0011: Practice-Changing Trials
Dr. Giuliano was among the first surgeons to adapt and refine the sentinel lymph node biopsy technique for breast cancer. He then led two large multicenter trials, ACOSOG Z0010 and ACOSOG Z0011; together, they changed how the surgical community approached the treatment of breast cancer.
Prior to these trials, standard surgical procedure for invasive breast cancer was axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), regardless of whether the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes. ALND often results in surgical complications and lymphedema. Through ACOSOG Z0010, Dr. Giuliano and colleagues validated the concept of the sentinel node in breast cancer, leading to the abandonment of ALND in patients with node-negative disease. The findings of the ACOSOG Z0011 study have allowed the surgical community to move away from ALND in patients with limited sentinel node positivity as well.
“It is a great honor to receive the 2025 McGuire Award in recognition of my work in axillary staging,” said Dr. Giuliano. “Z0011 was a particularly difficult study to do because it challenged long-held medical dogma, but progress only comes from asking hard questions. Thanks to the dedicated work of the staff at ACOSOG, the principal investigators at many institutions, and the brave patients who participated, Z0011 has helped us to de-escalate treatment and improve the lives of patients with early metastatic breast cancer.”
Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc
“Dr. Giuliano has been a pioneer in less invasive breast surgeries,” said SABCS Co-Director Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc, Medical Director of the Breast Oncology Program at UT Health San Antonio Mays Cancer Center. “He not only helped establish sentinel node biopsy as the standard of care in patients with axillary lymph node–negative breast cancer, but was also able to show that this technique was appropriate for a patient population with axillary node-positive disease. These advances have substantially improved the lives of our breast cancer patients. We are honored to call him this year’s McGuire awardee.”
Dr. Giuliano’s Professional Accomplishments
Dr. Giuliano has been recognized with numerous awards and honors throughout his career. Here is a list of the most recent ones: the St. Gallen Breast Cancer Award (2025); the International Society of Surgery Prize (2024); the Sociedad Espanola de Senologia y Patologia Mamaria Medalla de Oro (2019); the OncLive Giant of Cancer Care Award in Surgical Oncology (2018); the American-Italian Cancer Foundation Prize for Scientific Excellence in Medicine (2016); the Impact Award, National Consortium of Breast Centers (2016); the São Paulo Society of Mastology Award (2013); the Distinguished Service Award, University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences (2013); the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Clinical Research (2011); the Glenn-Robbins Award, New York Metropolitan Breast Cancer Group (2011); and the Castle Connolly National Physician of the Year Award for Clinical Excellence (2011).
Additionally, Dr. Giuliano is an honorary fellow of the Surgical Oncology Society of the Philippines (2019), a fellow ad hominem of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (2005), and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (1983). He is an honorary member of the Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology (2009) and received an honorary diploma from the National University of Cordoba, Argentina (2003).
Dr. Giuliano received his undergraduate degree from Fordham University in New York and his medical degree from the University of Chicago.
The William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award was established in 1992 to commemorate the significant contributions to breast oncology by Dr. McGuire, who, along with Charles A. Coltman, MD, founded SABCS in 1977.
