DF/HCC Program Affiliation

Breast Cancer
Outcomes Research

Research Abstract

On staff in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, I study decision-making about radiation therapy in breast cancer. My primary goal is to pursue health services research studying radiation therapy for breast cancer, as well as continue to model discrete decisions confronted by individual patients.

With time, I hope to use the results from the decision analyses and health services research to improve the quality of decision-making by individual breast cancer patients and their oncologists. The ability to present outcomes targeted to an individual patient will advance the field of breast oncology, where many therapeutic decisions are made based on the results of large aggregates of patients enrolled in clinical trials, whose results may not be specifically tailored to an individual patient’s set of clinical circumstances and values.

Publications

• Landis DM, Luo W, Song J, Bellon JR, Punglia RS, Wong JS, Killoran JH, Gelman R, Harris JR.Variability among breast radiation oncologists in delineation of the postsurgical lumpectomy cavity.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2007 Apr 1;67(5):1299-308.
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• Punglia RS, Weeks JC, Neville BA, Earle CC.Radiation therapy after mastectomy between 1991 and 1999 in elderly women: response to clinical trial information.J Clin Oncol 2006 Jul 20;24(21):3474-82.
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• Punglia RS, Weeks JC, Neville BA, Earle CC.Effect of distance to radiation treatment facility on use of radiation therapy after mastectomy in elderly women.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2006 Jun 29.
  16814955
• Punglia RS, Kuntz KM, Winer EP, Weeks JC, Burstein HJ.The impact of tumor progesterone receptor status on optimal adjuvant endocrine therapy for postmenopausal patients with early-stage breast cancer: a decision analysis.Cancer 2006 Jun 15;106(12):2576-82
  16703595
• Punglia RS, Kuntz KM, Winer EP, Weeks JC, Burstein HJ.Optimizing adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer: a decision analysis.J Clin Oncol 2005 Aug 1;23(22):5178-87.
  15998905
• Punglia RS, Kuntz KM, Lee JH, Recht A.Radiation therapy plus tamoxifen versus tamoxifen alone after breast-conserving surgery in postmenopausal women with stage I breast cancer: a decision analysis.J Clin Oncol 2003 Jun 15;21(12):2260-7.
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