Helena Earl

Helena Earl has been Professor Emeritus of Clinical Cancer Medicine in the Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge since January 2019. Previously, she was appointed as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Birmingham (1992) where she was Director of the Birmingham Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit. After this she was appointed at the University of Cambridge in 1996. She has co-led multi-centre randomised phase III clinical trials in breast cancer (NEAT, tAnGo, Neo-tAnGo, ARTemis, PERSEPHONE, and PARTNER). She has authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, and held collaborative grant funding from Cancer Research UK, the NIHR HTA, with pharmaceutical partnership funding (Roche, Astra Zeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, Eli Lilly). She has also contributed as a national leader in Medical Oncology specialty training, and its development as an academic specialty in the UK over the past 30 years. She was appointed President of Association of Cancer Physicians in January 2021. She has been involved in the Lancet Breast Cancer Commission: tackling a global health, gender, and equity challenge, in line with her interests in global oncology, value-based healthcare for cancer and cost-effectiveness of new cancer drugs.

Lancet Breast Cancer Commission: an overview

This commission was a comprehensive review of existing evidence, aimed at tackling a global health, gender, and equity challenge. There were six themes in the commission: (1) breast cancer prevention, (2) personalising breast cancer treatment; (3) optimal inclusive management of metastatic breast cancer, (4) tackling breast cancer gaps and inequities through global collaboration, (5) identifying the hidden costs of breast cancer, and (6) communication and empowerment in breast cancer. The sections covering each theme are completed by a table summarising the measurable indicators of change which can inform not only clinical care guidelines and but also policy changes from regulatory agencies and governments. We have attempted to provide a commission which not only informs, detailing an essential reading list for all those involved in breast cancer care, but also provides practical advice as to how to bring about meaningful change.