The basic approach to breast cancer treatment 30 years ago was one size fits all.Today, medical experts like Jane Brock are using highly personalised treatments to lengthen the lifespan of patients.The Harvard Medical School assistant professor will talk about breast health at a public lecture tomorrow, with radiologist David Green.“I will be explaining what a breast tumour is, some basics of why we do molecular profiling of tumours and what we have learned from molecular profiling,” said Dr Brock, adding that the technique provides patient-specific information.Persons in attendance will also learn about the four subtypes of breast cancer, she said. Each type has a different genetic pattern, and as a result responds differently to chemotherapy and other breast cancer treatments.“Identifying which subtype of breast cancer you have is important for your oncologist in deciding the appropriate treatment,” she said. “Whether you receive hormone-targeted therapy with tamoxifen or an aromatise inhibitor alone, or whether you will benefit from receiving a course of chemotherapy and possibly a more specific targeted therapy, is dictated by your tumour subtype.”British-born Dr Brock is also an associate pathologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.She became interested in breast cancer pathology after seeing the work being done by medical professionals at Brigham and Women’s while doing her residency there a decade ago.“I guess it never occurred to me to do anything else when you have people this special as your work colleagues,” she said.As part of her role at DFCI she evaluates pathology for several breast cancer clinical trials running at the renowned institution.“I think it is important for women with breast cancer to know what type of tumour they have, because that will direct the course of their treatment,” she said.“Going forward the goal is to find specific targeted therapies in hormone receptor positive tumours that will resensitise tumours to hormone therapy when they become resistant to them.”That, she said, is what often happens as a tumour evolves.Dr Brock said the future holds a lot of promise with breast cancer treatment.“As our understanding of tumour biology increases, we will understand better how to use the arsenal of targeted therapies available to us to improve outcomes for women living with breast cancer,” she said.There are many new trials open and ongoing at DFCI and across the United States looking at combinations of more specific targeted therapies to treat primary and metastatic breast cancers.“I do not have a family history of breast cancer, but this disease is so common. Everybody has a friend or friends who has had it and gone through the stress and anxiety of a breast cancer diagnosis followed by difficult treatments,” Dr Brock said. “I am fairly practical about it. If it happens [to me], it happens. I certainly would rather be getting it now than 30 years ago given the tremendous pace of advances in our understanding and treatment.”Tomorrow’s lecture takes place at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute from 6.30 to 7.30pm.There will be health screening, information tables and vendors on display from 5.15pm to 6.15pm.Useful website: www.chc.bm .