Florey Annual Public Lecture

Is it Time for a Personalized Approach to Breast Cancer Screening and Prevention?

Presenter: Dr. Laura Esserman
When: Thursday 21 August 2025
Time: 6.00 - 7.00 pm (light refreshments to follow)
Where: AHMS building, North Terrace, ground floor, G030 lecture theatre

Each day, around 6,300 people are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide.

Mammography screening was introduced with the hope of saving lives through early detection. But breast cancer is complex — it is not a single disease.

Multiple factors contribute to risk, including genetics, environmental exposures, and breast tissue density. So, if everyone’s risk is different, why are we still taking a one-size-fits-all approach to screening?

Given the significant costs of screening and the personal burden on individuals, there is a growing recognition that we must refine our approach to overcome the limitations of current screening strategies.

Internationally renowned oncologist Dr Laura Esserman will share the latest in personalised breast cancer screening approaches, including major international trials:

• WISDOM (Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk – USA)
• My PeBS (My Personalized Breast Cancer Screening – Europe and Israel)

These studies aim to tailor screening based on individual risk, with the goal of improving early detection and even preventing breast cancer altogether.

Presenter

Dr Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, is Director of the UCSF Breast Care Center and a global thought leader in cancer screening, over-diagnosis, and innovative clinical trial design. She led the development of the Athena Breast Health Network (tracking 150,000 women across the University of California system) and co-leads the groundbreaking I-SPY TRIAL, accelerating the identification of effective treatments for high-risk breast cancer. Affectionately known as "the singing surgeon", Dr Esserman is recognised for her compassionate patient care — even singing to her patients as they go under anaesthesia.