As a member of the M. D. Anderson faculty since 1976, Dr. Gabriel Hortobagyi has been instrumental in developing combination chemotherapy for previously inoperable breast tumors and for improving multidisciplinary treatment for patients with all stages of breast cancer, including advanced disease. He and his colleagues have conducted extensive clinical trials that have been widely incorporated into standard practices for managing breast cancer and have contributed to increased survival for many patients. His research studies have been supported by The Breast Cancer Research Foundation since 1993. Dr. Hortobagyi is widely known for a landmark study he initiated in1974 as a fellow in developmental therapeutics at M. D. Anderson. His research involved giving presurgical chemotherapy to patients whose breast tumors had already spread to other parts of the body and concluded that many large tumors could be reduced as much as 50 percent, then removed surgically. In 1988, he published a 10-year study that showed a three-drug regimen administered before surgery and radiation therapy after surgery produced promising results for breast-cancer patients with advanced disease. Among major honors for his breast-cancer research, Dr. Hortobagyi has received the 1999 Vermeille Medal from the City of Paris and the 1997 Brinker International Award for Clinical Research. In1997 he also received the Japanese Surgical Society Medal and the Sir Peter Freyer Medal in Galway, Ireland. He was co-founder of the World Summit Against Cancer, an international group of scientists, health-care professionals, patient advocates, economists, lawmakers and celebrities who are campaigning to ensure all people worldwide receive the most advanced treatment for cancer. In September 2005 he received an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, was named the 2005 World Leader in Oncology by the Mexican Society of Oncology and received the Mario Rabinovich Prize from the Argentine Association of Clinical Oncology and the Latin-American-Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology. In April of 2006 Dr. Hortobagyi received the American Society of Breast Disease Pathfinder Award, and in November 2006 received the prestigious Premio Luigi Castagnetta (Luigi Castagnetta Prize), Progetto Amazzone, in Palermo (Sicily), Italy
Dr. Hortobagyi has contributed more than 500 articles to peer-reviewed scientific journals, over 300 invited papters, and over 100 textbooks. He also is a past president of the International Society of Breast Diseases. His professional society activities include membership in the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where he has served on various task forces, chaired committees, served on the Board of Directors, and in 2005 was elected President for the term 2006-2007. He is currently Immediate Past President of ASCO. He chairs the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project; and served as President of the International Society of Senology. He served as a member of the U.S. National Committee for the International Union Against Cancer, and the National Cancer Institute’s Breast Cancer Progress Review Group. Dr. Hortobagyi is on the Advisory Board of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, chairs the Health Advisory Board of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Breast Cancer International Research Group, and was a member of the Integration Panel of the Breast Cancer Research Program of the Department of Defense. Dr. Hortobagyi is Chairman of the Executive Committee for the Breast Health Global Initiative. Dr. Hortobagyi assumed the role of Breast Cancer Committee Chair of the Southwest Oncology Group in June of 2007.
