Research Summary

Dr. Rita Mukhtar specializes in breast surgery and general surgery for urgent conditions. For her patients with breast cancer, she offers expertise in total skin-sparing mastectomies, breast conservation, wire localization surgery (used to show the location of tissue requiring biopsy) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (used to see if cancer has spread).

Dr. Mukhtar's research program focuses on invasive lobular carcinoma, the second most common type of breast cancer. This work is funded by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. She teaches medical students and residents, and serves as an Associate Program Director for the UCSF General Surgery Residency.

Education

UC Berkeley, AB, 12/2000, Molecular and Cell Biology
UC San Francisco, MD, 05/2006
UC San Francisco, Postdoctoral Fellow, 06/2011, Advanced Training in Clinical Research
UC San Francisco, Resident, 06/2013, General Surgery
UC San Francisco, Fellow, 06/2014, Breast Surgical Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 2003
    Storer Scholarship, UCSF School of Medicine
  • 2005
    Student Research Award, Association for Academic Surgery
  • 2006
    Steinhart Scholarship, UCSF School of Medicine
  • 2007
    Dr Galante Scholarship Award, UCSF Department of Surgery
  • 2009
    Resident Research Scholarship, UCSF CTSI
  • 2013
    Teaching Award for Cherished Housestaff, UCSF School of Medicine
  • 2013
    Lawrence Way Critical Thinking Award, UCSF Department of Surgery

Selected Publications

  1. Julia Ye, Nadine Goldhammer, Poonam Vohra, Chaelee Park, Cristian Maldonado Rodas, Mark Moasser, Shoko Abe, Michael Alvarado, Cheryl Ewing, Karen Goodwin, Rita Mukhtar, Jasmine Wong, Laura Esserman, Ron Balassanian, Jennifer Rosenbluth. 410 Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy of Breast Specimens Effectively Harvests Cells for Patient-Derived Organoids Modeling Breast Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. Laboratory Investigation. 2025 Mar 1; 105(3):102637.  View on PubMed
  2. Mukhtar RA, Gottipati S, Yau C, López-Tarruella S, Earl H, Hayward L, Hiller L, Osdoit M, van der Noordaa M, de Croze D, Hamy AS, Laé M, Reyal F, Sonke GS, Steenbruggen TG, van Seijen M, Wesseling J, Martín M, Del Monte-Millán M, Boughey JC, Goetz MP, Hoskin T, Valero V, Edge SB, Abraham JE, Bartlett JMS, Caldas C, Dunn J, Provenzano E, Sammut SJ, Thomas JS, Graham A, Hall P, Mackintosh L, Fan F, Godwin AK, Schwensen K, Sharma P, DeMichele AM, Cole K, Pusztai L, Kim MO, J van 't Veer L, Cameron D, Esserman LJ, Fraser Symmans W. A pooled analysis evaluating prognostic significance of Residual Cancer Burden in invasive lobular breast cancer. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2025 Feb 13; 11(1):14.  View on PubMed
  3. Boughey JC, Yu H, Switalla K, Velle L, Lopes A, Wallace AM, Lancaster RB, Reyna CR, Tuttle TM, Jaskowiak N, Tchou J, Rao R, Lee MC, Naik AM, Golshan M, Arciero CA, Sauder CAM, Matsen CB, Yau C, Esserman L, Mukhtar RA, I-SPY2 Locoregional Working Group. Oncologic Outcomes with De-Escalation of Axillary Surgery After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: Results from > 1500 Patients on the I-SPY2 Clinical Trial. Ann Surg Oncol. 2025 Feb 13.  View on PubMed
  4. Li W, Le NN, Nadkarni R, Onishi N, Wilmes LJ, Gibbs JE, Price ER, Joe BN, Mukhtar RA, Gennatas ED, Kornak J, Magbanua MJM, Van't Veer LJ, LeStage B, Esserman LJ, Hylton NM. Tumor Morphology for Prediction of Poor Responses Early in Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Multicenter Retrospective Study. Tomography. 2024 Nov 20; 10(11):1832-1845.  View on PubMed
  5. Falade I, Switalla K, Quirarte A, Baxter M, Soroudi D, Rothschild H, Abe SE, Goodwin K, Piper M, Alvarado M, Julian BQ, Ewing C, Wong J, Rose J, Esserman L, Foster R, Mukhtar RA. Balancing risks of surgical complications and positive margins for patients with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast and elevated BMI: An institutional cohort study. Am J Surg. 2025 Mar; 241:116073.  View on PubMed
  6. Jacob S, Christofferson A, Fisch S, Norwood P, Castillo P, Yu H, Hirst G, Soliman H, Nanda R, Mukhtar RA, Ewing C, Majure M, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Esserman L, Price E, Chien AJ. Regional lymph node changes on breast MRI in patients with early-stage breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Jan; 209(1):147-159.  View on PubMed
  7. Kaur M, Rothschild HT, Mukhtar RA. Reply to: "Surgery of the primary tumor in patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer: a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study in Belgium and the National Cancer Database (NCDB)". Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Oct; 207(3):669-670.  View on PubMed
  8. Falade IO, Switalla KM, Baxter ME, Quirarte A, Record H, Rothschild HT, Clelland EN, Mukhtar RA. Variation in surgical treatment by body mass index in patients with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Dec; 208(3):569-575.  View on PubMed
  9. Alexandra Thomas, Denise M. Wolf, Ronald Balassanian, Yunn-Yi Chen, Julia Ye, Poonam Vohra, Evin H. Gulbahce, Alexander D. Borowsky, Lamorna Brown Swigart, Gillian L. Hirst, Sara Venters, Rita Nanda, Rebecca Arielle Shatsky, Ralph D'Agostino, Rita A. Mukhtar, Sarah Hatcher, Christina Yau, Angela DeMichele, Laura van 't Veer, Laura Esserman. Therapeutic response and outcomes with uncommon breast cancer subtypes in the I-SPY trial 2010-2022. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2024 Aug 10; 42(23_suppl):1-1.  View on PubMed
  10. Tchou J, Gottipati S, Goldbach M, Baxter M, Venters S, Balassanian R, Vohra P, Gonzalves D, Ahmad Z, Nayak A, Boughey JC, Mukhtar RA, Chen YY. Change in Biomarker Profile After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy is Prognostic and Common Among Patients with HER2+ Breast Cancer. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Nov; 31(12):8093-8101.  View on PubMed
  11. Greenwood HI, Maldonado Rodas CK, Freimanis RI, Glencer AC, Miller PN, Mukhtar RA, Brabham C, Yau C, Rosenbluth JM, Hirst GL, Campbell MJ, Borowsky A, Hylton N, Esserman LJ, Basu A. Magnetic resonance imaging insights from active surveillance of women with ductal carcinoma in situ. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2024 Aug 04; 10(1):71.  View on PubMed
  12. Switalla KM, Boughey JC, Mukhtar RA. ASO Author Reflections: Evolving Paradigms in Axillary Management for Breast Cancer: Insights from the ISPY-2 Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Trial. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Oct; 31(11):7260-7261.  View on PubMed
  13. Clelland EN, Mukhtar RA. ASO Author Reflections: Detecting Local Recurrence After Primary Treatment for Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Oct; 31(11):7323-7324.  View on PubMed
  14. Oesterreich S, Pate L, Lee AV, Chen F, Jankowitz RC, Mukhtar R, Metzger O, Sikora MJ, Li CI, Sotiriou C, Shah OS, Koorman T, Ulaner G, Reis-Filho JS, Davidson NM, Van Baelen K, Hutcheson L, Freeney S, Migyanka F, Turner C, Derksen P, Bear T, Desmedt C. International survey on invasive lobular breast cancer identifies priority research questions. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2024 Jul 20; 10(1):61.  View on PubMed
  15. Switalla KM, Boughey JC, Dimitroff K, Yau C, Ladores V, Yu H, Tchou J, Golshan M, Ahrendt G, Postlewait LM, Piltin M, Reyna CR, Matsen CB, Tuttle TM, Wallace AM, Arciero CA, Lee MC, Tseng J, Son J, Rao R, Sauder C, Naik A, Howard-McNatt M, Lancaster R, Norwood P, Esserman LJ, Mukhtar RA. Clipping the Positive Lymph Node in Patients with Clinically Node Positive Breast Cancer Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Impact on Axillary Surgery in the ISPY-2 Clinical Trial. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Oct; 31(11):7249-7259.  View on PubMed
  16. Piltin MA, Norwood P, Ladores V, Mukhtar RA, Sauder CA, Golshan M, Tchou J, Rao R, Lee MC, Son J, Reyna C, Hewitt K, Kuerer H, Ahrendt G, Greenwalt I, Tseng J, Postlewait L, Howard-McNatt M, Jaskowiak N, Esserman LJ, Boughey JC, , ISPY2 Locoregional Working Group. Internal Mammary Lymphadenopathy Does Not Impact Oncologic Outcomes in Patients Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Results from the I-SPY2 Clinical Trial. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Oct; 31(11):7420-7428.  View on PubMed
  17. Clelland EN, Quirarte A, Rothschild HT, Kaur M, Mujir F, Record H, Wong JM, Mukhtar RA. Surveillance Strategies After Primary Treatment for Patients with Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast: Method of Local Recurrence Detection After Breast-Conserving Surgery. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Oct; 31(11):7315-7322.  View on PubMed
  18. Erin Frances Cobain, Lajos Pusztai, Cathy Lynne Graham, Pat W. Whitworth, Peter D. Beitsch, Cynthia R. C. Osborne, Rakhshanda Layeequr Rahman, Nathalie MCDOWELL Johnson, Adam Brufsky, Reshma L. Mahtani, VK Gadi, Kent Hoskins, Hannah M. Linden, Rita A. Mukhtar, Laura Esserman, Josien Haan, Katie Quinn, Andrea Menicucci, M. William Audeh, Joyce O'Shaughnessy. Elucidating the immune active state of HR+HER2- MammaPrint High 2 early breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2024 Jun 1; 42(16_suppl):506-506.  View on PubMed
  19. Roberto Antonio Leon-Ferre, Katrina Dimitroff, Christina Yau, Karthik Giridhar, Rita A. Mukhtar, Gillian L. Hirst, Nola Hylton, W. Fraser Fraser Symmans, Matthew P. Goetz, Laura Esserman, Judy Caroline Boughey. Impact of extent of disease at presentation on oncologic outcomes according to pathologic response to neoadjuvant systemic therapy among participants of the I-SPY2 clinical trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2024 Jun 1; 42(16_suppl):594-594.  View on PubMed
  20. Alison S. Baskin, Laura A. Huppert, Tatiana Kelil, Lisa Singer, Rita A. Mukhtar. The neoadjuvant approach to treatment of breast cancer: Multidisciplinary management to improve outcomes. Surgical Oncology Insight. 2024 Jun 1; 1(2):100059.  View on PubMed

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