Julia McGuinness, M.D.

Research Overview

Being overweight or obese can increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. There is a need for a tool that can show people how their breast cancer risk changes in response to interventions such as GLP-1 agonists and/or lifestyle modifications such as weight loss and increased physical activity. These lifestyle adjustments may not only encourage women to continue these efforts but also could be used to inform public health interventions to reduce cancer risk.

In addition to lifestyle modifications, mammograms play a key role in breast cancer prevention and can provide valuable information about changes in breast cancer risk over time. We have developed computer-based tools that look at features on mammograms beyond what the human eye can see to provide additional information on a woman’s risk of breast cancer.

We hypothesize that these tools could be used to detect early improvements in breast cancer risk with weight loss interventions, including weight loss surgery and GLP-1 agonists, which can be helpful to reduce both the risk of heart disease and cancer.

The project will identify women who were overweight or obese and underwent screening mammograms, and who did or did not undergo weight loss surgery and/or receive GLP-1 agonists. We will compare mammograms taken before weight loss interventions and again one to two years later to see whether these tools capture changes in mammograms that ultimately result in a decrease in breast cancer risk.

If successful, our tools may demonstrate that weight-loss treatments lead to measurable improvements in breast cancer risk and help women better understand their own individual breast cancer risk.

My “Why”

I’m a breast medical oncologist who treats patients with breast cancer as well as those at high risk for breast cancer. Every day, I see both the impact that prior research has had on treatment options and quality of life for patients, but also recognize ongoing areas for improvement. Vitally important areas of research are cancer risk assessment, screening and prevention. By intervening early before cancer starts, we have the potential to dramatically improve the lives of people.

چرا تامین مالی مهم است

Funding from the Prevent Cancer Foundation provides support for the type of research that many organizations do not prioritize, allowing myself and other researchers to ask innovative questions about cancer risk assessment, screening and prevention.

This grant will specifically fund my work evaluating novel computer-based tools applied to routine mammograms that might be used to assess response to risk reducing interventions, such as weight loss surgery and GLP-1 agonists.