Dennis Slamon, M.D., Ph.D. - 2016 Recipient
UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dennis Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., was named the 2016 recipient of the Duane Roth Achievement Award. Dr. Slamon stood at the forefront of targeted therapy at a time when the technology was not supported by his peers. Despite facing much resistance, Dr. Slamon and his team at UCLA played an integral role in the development of HERCEPTIN (trastuzumab) – the first molecularly targeted therapy for breast cancer. It was approved by the FDA in 1998.
Dr. Slamon dedicated much of his career to the creation of targeted therapies, despite opposition faced around the concept in its earliest days. His latest success involves the development of IBRANCE (palbociclib), granted FDA approval in 2017 for use in combination with letrozole for the treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer as initial endocrine-based therapy for their metastatic disease. The Pfizer study was conducted in collaboration with the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Revlon/ UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program, led by Dr. Slamon.
Despite facing much resistance, Dr. Slamon and his team at UCLA played an integral role in the development of HERCEPTIN – the first molecularly targeted therapy for breast cancer. It was approved by the FDA in 1998.
Dr. Slamon serves as director of Clinical/ Translational Research and director of the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is a professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and executive vice chair for research for UCLA’s Department of Medicine. Dr. Slamon has spent his career working on therapies targeting various genes and ensuring that advanced breast cancer patients across the globe can access them.