Dr. Barbara Pockaj, M.D. was the guest speaker at an ARCS Foundation Phoenix all member Board meeting and luncheon held at the at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort October 7, 2013. Dr. Pockaj is a consultant with the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She is the section head for Surgical Oncology in the Division of General Surgery. With breast cancer continuing to be a large portion of her practice she is also involved with many studies and trials designed to inform better treatments and therapies. Dr. Pockaj discussed alternative surgical approaches for various types of cancer and pointed out that in many cases the less invasive treatment is as beneficial as the traditional approach.

Dr.Pockaj has a strong clinical and research interest in breast cancer and malignant melanoma. She is the chair of the Breast Cancer Interest Group (BIG), a collaboration between researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Arizona State University (ASU). The focus of the group is to investigate molecular pathways to identify treatment targets for patients with triple negative breast cancer and endocrine-resistant breast cancer. The treatment of breast cancer has changed from treating it as a single disease to considering tailored treatment as a heterogeneous group of cancers with distinctive pathobiology. The molecular classification of major tumor groups is primarily the result of intensive genomics research. This has significant ramifications for treatment potential. This is true for not only breast cancer but also melanoma. She noted that leveraging our clinical and translational work is the only way to improve treatment for cancer patients in the future.