How Dr. Amir Is Changing the Way We Treat Cancer

Dr. Eitan Amir is a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer and Head of the Solid Tumour Oncology program at The Princess Margaret. But he’s not only an expert in treating cancer – his unique area of research aims to ensure that his patients aren’t being overtreated either.

“The idea is that we optimize treatment better,” said Dr. Amir. “We want to make sure patients receive exactly what they need, not more and not less.” By taking existing data and analyzing it in a different way, he’s able to more accurately weigh the benefits of certain cancer therapies against the potential risks. “Knowing that almost all of our treatments have side effects, we don’t want to be giving people cancer treatments for benefits that may be too small to justify those additional negative effects,” he said.

Over the last 10-15 years, researchers at The Princess Margaret have been working to better understand which patients should undergo prolonged hormone therapy, which is one of the treatment options for breast cancer patients. “We’ve provided data on who can most likely receive less aggressive treatment for their breast cancer, and we’ve also provided more precise estimates of who benefits from bone-targeted therapy,” recalls Dr. Amir. As of today, his team has written a total of five papers that are cited in the international guidelines for breast cancer treatment.

But Dr. Amir and his team wouldn’t be able to accomplish this important research without funding. “The kind of research that I do often looks at how to use drugs less rather than more,” he said. “This is where programs like Princess Margaret Home Lottery have been extremely helpful. There’s a direct correlation between the funds the Lottery raises and the research that we’re capable of doing,” he said. “Until we’re able to cure all people with cancer, there’s a lot of work to be done and funding supports that work and speeds it up.”