Advancing Outcomes and Quality of Life for Patients With Metastatic Cancer

DR. NANCY U. LIN HAS dedicated her career to advancing quality of life and outcomes for patients with metastatic breast cancer. She is the director of the metastatic breast cancer program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and is the founder and director of the EMBRACE (Ending Metastatic Breast Cancer for Everyone) program for patients with metastatic breast cancer. She also directs a program for patients with breast cancer-related brain metastases. She has wanted to help patients navigate living with metastatic disease better; she created a regular forum for patients with metastatic disease that provides information on art therapy options, advice on coping with the disease, sharing information with children and more. She has also created a system to share tumor genomic information back to the patient and with any local oncology providers, letting them know about possible treatment options. She has a group of EMBRACE coordinators who meet with our patients with metastatic breast cancer in clinic and help connect them to any services they may need and to any clinical trials they may be eligible for by coordinating any necessary prescreening or referrals. Additionally, she built a database to track all patients with metastatic breast cancer over time, with the goal of being able to ask important questions about treatment outcomes in the metastatic setting.

Beyond this, Nancy is a compassionate provider who is loved by her patients. She goes out of her way to make sure each patient receives the best cancer care possible. She gets numerous referrals from our local community oncologists but also from oncologists across the country. She helped create a tumor board specifically for patients with breast cancer-related brain metastases that she oversees, and oversees a robust portfolio of brain metastases trials. Patients often travel from all over the country to see her for evaluation and consideration for these studies.

Her dedication and passion toward improving the lives of patients with metastatic breast cancer is unparalleled and I can think of no one more deserving of this award.

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