Our Science – Eng-Wong Website

Jennifer Eng-Wong, M.D., M.P.H.

Medical Oncology Branch and Affiliates Staff Clinician National Cancer Institute Building 10 - Magnuson CC, Room 12N226 10 Center Drive Bethesda, MD 20892 Phone:   301-496-4916 Fax:   301-402-0172 E-Mail:   engwongj@mail.nih.gov

Biography

Dr. Eng-Wong received her M.D. from the State University of New York, Stony Brook and her M.P.H from George Washington University. She completed clinical training in Internal Medicine at University of California-Davis, followed by training in Medical Oncology and Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Eng-Wong joined the Medical Oncology Branch NCI as an attending physician in 2003. Dr. Eng-Wong's primary research interest has been in the evaluation of breast cancer prevention interventions.

Research

Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosis and the second leading cause of cancer death in women. While great progress has been made in the treatment of breast cancer, recent trials have shown that we can also effectively prevent breast cancer with agents that target the estrogen pathway.

Our breast cancer prevention trials include assessments of hormonally targeted agents and lifestyle interventions. Phase II chemoprevention protocols are aimed at determining the safety of promising agents and developing potential surrogate biomarkers. For example our group has conducted the only long term trial of a recently proven chemoprevention agent, raloxifene, in premenopausal women. This trial yielded a detailed assessment of safety endpoints, e.g. bone mineral density and gynecologic effects as well as potential surrogate biomarkers, e.g. mammographic density and the IGF pathway. Building on this work we have developed a phase II trial evaluating exemestane, an aromatase inhibitor, in postmenopausal women at increased risk for breast cancer. This trial also focuses on safety and biomarker development which are difficult to assess in large phase III efficacy studies. A unique contribution of our trial designs is the evaluation of breast tissue. This allows us to determine specific tissue effects of these agents.

We are also interested in the effects of energy balance on breast tumorigenesis and are assessing a moderate intensity physical activity intervention. NCI laboratory investigators have found intriguing effects of increased on physical activity on the immune system and mammary tissue gene expression which we plan to explore in women.

Our collaborators include Jo Anne Zujewski, Sheila Prindiville, Larissa Korde, Sandra Swain, Barbara Vonderhaar, Cathy Chow, Pamela Stratton, David Danforth, David Berrigan, Jackie Lavigne and Connie Rogers NIH.

This page was last updated on 7/15/2008.