Research Summary

Dr. A. Jo Chien specializes in breast cancer, with special expertise in tumors that are called HER2+ (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), typically a more aggressive type of cancer. Her primary research interests include HER2+, breast cancer in young women, and fertility problems related to cancer treatment.

Chien graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2003 and completed a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She was a fellow in the hematology and oncology at UCSF from 2006 to 2009. Chien received the Massachusetts Medical Society and Alliance Charitable Foundation International Health Grant in 2003, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award in 2008; ASCO Foundation Merit Award in 2008; and American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2008. She has published numerous articles in medical journals related to her breast cancer research. Chien is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association of Cancer Research. She is an assistant professor of medicine at UCSF.

Education

Stanford University, Stanford, CA, BS w/ Honors, 1998, Biological Sciences
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, MD, 2003

Honors & Awards

  • 1994
    Robert C. Byrd California State Scholarship
  • 1994
    Stanford University Presidential Scholar
  • 1996
    Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Grant
  • 1998
    Phi Beta Kappa Society Electee
  • 1998
    Stanford University Department of Biological Sciences Graduate of Distinction
  • 2003
    Massachusetts Medical Society and Alliance Charitable Foundation International Health Grant
  • 2008
    ASCO Young Investigator Award
  • 2008
    ASCO Foundation Merit Award
  • 2008
    American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship

Selected Publications

  1. Umashankar S, Mamounas ME, Matthys M, Hadeler EK, Wong EC, Hicks G, Hwang J, Chien AJ, Rugo HS, Hamolsky D, Esserman L, Melisko M. Evaluation of the Pathways for Survivors Program to Address Breast Cancer Survivorship-Associated Distress: Survey Study. JMIR Cancer. 2022 Feb 25; 8(1):e31756.  View on PubMed
  2. Magbanua MJM, Li W, Wolf DM, Yau C, Hirst GL, Swigart LB, Newitt DC, Gibbs J, Delson AL, Kalashnikova E, Aleshin A, Zimmermann B, Chien AJ, Tripathy D, Esserman L, Hylton N, van 't Veer L. Circulating tumor DNA and magnetic resonance imaging to predict neoadjuvant chemotherapy response and recurrence risk. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2021 Mar 25; 7(1):32.  View on PubMed
  3. Du L, Yau C, Brown-Swigart L, Gould R, Krings G, Hirst GL, Bedrosian I, Layman RM, Carter JM, Klein M, Venters S, Shad S, van der Noordaa M, Chien AJ, Haddad T, Isaacs C, Pusztai L, Albain K, Nanda R, Tripathy D, Liu MC, Boughey J, Schwab R, Hylton N, DeMichele A, Perlmutter J, Yee D, Berry D, Van't Veer L, Valero V, Esserman LJ, Symmans WF. Predicted sensitivity to endocrine therapy for stage II-III hormone receptor-positive and HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) breast cancer before chemo-endocrine therapy. Ann Oncol. 2021 05; 32(5):642-651.  View on PubMed
  4. Wardley A, Cortes J, Provencher L, Miller K, Chien AJ, Rugo HS, Steinberg J, Sugg J, Tudor IC, Huizing M, Young R, Abramson V, Bose R, Hart L, Chan S, Cameron D, Wright GS, Graas MP, Neven P, Rocca A, Russo S, Krop IE. The efficacy and safety of enzalutamide with trastuzumab in patients with HER2+?and androgen receptor-positive metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 May; 187(1):155-165.  View on PubMed
  5. Magbanua MJM, Swigart LB, Wu HT, Hirst GL, Yau C, Wolf DM, Tin A, Salari R, Shchegrova S, Pawar H, Delson AL, DeMichele A, Liu MC, Chien AJ, Tripathy D, Asare S, Lin CJ, Billings P, Aleshin A, Sethi H, Louie M, Zimmermann B, Esserman LJ, van 't Veer LJ. Circulating tumor DNA in neoadjuvant-treated breast cancer reflects response and survival. Ann Oncol. 2021 02; 32(2):229-239.  View on PubMed
  6. Hyland CJ, Varghese F, Yau C, Beckwith H, Khoury K, Varnado W, Hirst GL, Flavell RR, Chien AJ, Yee D, Isaacs CJ, Forero-Torres A, Esserman LJ, Melisko ME. Use of 18F-FDG PET/CT as an Initial Staging Procedure for Stage II-III Breast Cancer: A Multicenter Value Analysis. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2020 11; 18(11):1510-1517.  View on PubMed
  7. Wolf DM, Yau C, Wulfkuhle J, Brown-Swigart L, Gallagher RI, Magbanua MJM, O'Grady N, Hirst G, I-SPY 2 TRIAL Investigators, Asare S, Tripathy D, Berry D, Esserman L, Chien AJ, Petricoin EF, van 't Veer L. Mechanism of action biomarkers predicting response to AKT inhibition in the I-SPY 2 breast cancer trial. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2020; 6:48.  View on PubMed
  8. I-SPY2 Trial Consortium, Yee D, DeMichele AM, Yau C, Isaacs C, Symmans WF, Albain KS, Chen YY, Krings G, Wei S, Harada S, Datnow B, Fadare O, Klein M, Pambuccian S, Chen B, Adamson K, Sams S, Mhawech-Fauceglia P, Magliocco A, Feldman M, Rendi M, Sattar H, Zeck J, Ocal IT, Tawfik O, LeBeau LG, Sahoo S, Vinh T, Chien AJ, Forero-Torres A, Stringer-Reasor E, Wallace AM, Pusztai L, Boughey JC, Ellis ED, Elias AD, Lu J, Lang JE, Han HS, Clark AS, Nanda R, Northfelt DW, Khan QJ, Viscusi RK, Euhus DM, Edmiston KK, Chui SY, Kemmer K, Park JW, Liu MC, Olopade O, Leyland-Jones B, Tripathy D, Moulder SL, Rugo HS, Schwab R, Lo S, Helsten T, Beckwith H, Haugen P, Hylton NM, Van't Veer LJ, Perlmutter J, Melisko ME, Wilson A, Peterson G, Asare AL, Buxton MB, Paoloni M, Clennell JL, Hirst GL, Singhrao R, Steeg K, Matthews JB, Asare SM, Sanil A, Berry SM, Esserman LJ, Berry DA. Association of Event-Free and Distant Recurrence-Free Survival With Individual-Level Pathologic Complete Response in Neoadjuvant Treatment of Stages 2 and 3 Breast Cancer: Three-Year Follow-up Analysis for the I-SPY2 Adaptively Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2020 09 01; 6(9):1355-1362.  View on PubMed
  9. Silverstein J, Post AL, Chien AJ, Olin R, Tsai KK, Ngo Z, Van Loon K. Multidisciplinary Management of Cancer During Pregnancy. JCO Oncol Pract. 2020 09; 16(9):545-557.  View on PubMed
  10. Terranova-Barberio M, Pawlowska N, Dhawan M, Moasser M, Chien AJ, Melisko ME, Rugo H, Rahimi R, Deal T, Daud A, Rosenblum MD, Thomas S, Munster PN. Exhausted T cell signature predicts immunotherapy response in ER-positive breast cancer. Nat Commun. 2020 07 17; 11(1):3584.  View on PubMed
  11. Jones EF, Hathi DK, Freimanis R, Mukhtar RA, Chien AJ, Esserman LJ, Van't Veer LJ, Joe BN, Hylton NM. Current Landscape of Breast Cancer Imaging and Potential Quantitative Imaging Markers of Response in ER-Positive Breast Cancers Treated with Neoadjuvant Therapy. Cancers (Basel). 2020 Jun 09; 12(6).  View on PubMed
  12. Lin NU, Borges V, Anders C, Murthy RK, Paplomata E, Hamilton E, Hurvitz S, Loi S, Okines A, Abramson V, Bedard PL, Oliveira M, Mueller V, Zelnak A, DiGiovanna MP, Bachelot T, Chien AJ, O'Regan R, Wardley A, Conlin A, Cameron D, Carey L, Curigliano G, Gelmon K, Loibl S, Mayor J, McGoldrick S, An X, Winer EP. Intracranial Efficacy and Survival With Tucatinib Plus Trastuzumab and Capecitabine for Previously Treated HER2-Positive Breast Cancer With Brain Metastases in the HER2CLIMB Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2020 08 10; 38(23):2610-2619.  View on PubMed
  13. Barcenas CH, Hurvitz SA, Di Palma JA, Bose R, Chien AJ, Iannotti N, Marx G, Brufsky A, Litvak A, Ibrahim E, Alvarez RH, Ruiz-Borrego M, Chan N, Manalo Y, Kellum A, Trudeau M, Thirlwell M, Garcia Saenz J, Hunt D, Bryce R, McCulloch L, Rugo HS, Tripathy D, Chan A, CONTROL Study Investigators. Improved tolerability of neratinib in patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer: the CONTROL trial. Ann Oncol. 2020 09; 31(9):1223-1230.  View on PubMed
  14. Nanda R, Liu MC, Yau C, Shatsky R, Pusztai L, Wallace A, Chien AJ, Forero-Torres A, Ellis E, Han H, Clark A, Albain K, Boughey JC, Jaskowiak NT, Elias A, Isaacs C, Kemmer K, Helsten T, Majure M, Stringer-Reasor E, Parker C, Lee MC, Haddad T, Cohen RN, Asare S, Wilson A, Hirst GL, Singhrao R, Steeg K, Asare A, Matthews JB, Berry S, Sanil A, Schwab R, Symmans WF, van 't Veer L, Yee D, DeMichele A, Hylton NM, Melisko M, Perlmutter J, Rugo HS, Berry DA, Esserman LJ. Effect of Pembrolizumab Plus Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on Pathologic Complete Response in Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer: An Analysis of the Ongoing Phase 2 Adaptively Randomized I-SPY2 Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2020 05 01; 6(5):676-684.  View on PubMed
  15. Letourneau JM, Wald K, Sinha N, Juarez-Hernandez F, Harris E, Cedars MI, McCulloch CE, Dolezal M, Chien AJ, Rosen MP. Fertility preservation before breast cancer treatment appears unlikely to affect disease-free survival at a median follow-up of 43�months after fertility-preservation consultation. Cancer. 2020 02 01; 126(3):487-495.  View on PubMed
  16. Dreher N, Hadeler EK, Hartman SJ, Wong EC, Acerbi I, Rugo HS, Majure MC, Chien AJ, Esserman LJ, Melisko ME. Fitbit Usage in Patients With Breast Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy. Clin Breast Cancer. 2019 12; 19(6):443-449.e1.  View on PubMed
  17. Jones EF, Ray KM, Li W, Chien AJ, Mukhtar RA, Esserman LJ, Franc BL, Seo Y, Pampaloni MH, Joe BN, Hylton NM. Initial experience of dedicated breast PET imaging of ER+ breast cancers using [F-18]fluoroestradiol. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2019; 5:12.  View on PubMed
  18. Chien AJ, Tripathy D, Albain KS, Symmans WF, Rugo HS, Melisko ME, Wallace AM, Schwab R, Helsten T, Forero-Torres A, Stringer-Reasor E, Ellis ED, Kaplan HG, Nanda R, Jaskowiak N, Murthy R, Godellas C, Boughey JC, Elias AD, Haley BB, Kemmer K, Isaacs C, Clark AS, Lang JE, Lu J, Korde L, Edmiston KK, Northfelt DW, Viscusi RK, Yee D, Perlmutter J, Hylton NM, Van't Veer LJ, DeMichele A, Wilson A, Peterson G, Buxton MB, Paoloni M, Clennell J, Berry S, Matthews JB, Steeg K, Singhrao R, Hirst GL, Sanil A, Yau C, Asare SM, Berry DA, Esserman LJ, I-SPY 2 Consortium. MK-2206 and Standard Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Improves Response in Patients With Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive and/or Hormone Receptor-Negative Breast Cancers in the I-SPY 2 Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2020 04 01; 38(10):1059-1069.  View on PubMed
  19. Letourneau JM, Sinha N, Wald K, Harris E, Quinn M, Imbar T, Mok-Lin E, Chien AJ, Rosen M. Random start ovarian stimulation for fertility preservation appears unlikely to delay initiation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Hum Reprod. 2017 10 01; 32(10):2123-2129.  View on PubMed
  20. Dhawan MS, Bartelink IH, Aggarwal RR, Leng J, Zhang JZ, Pawlowska N, Terranova-Barberio M, Grabowsky JA, Gewitz A, Chien AJ, Moasser M, Kelley RK, Maktabi T, Thomas S, Munster PN. Differential Toxicity in Patients with and without DNA Repair Mutations: Phase I Study of Carboplatin and Talazoparib in Advanced Solid Tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Nov 01; 23(21):6400-6410.  View on PubMed

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