Berna Özdemir graduated from the Medical School of the University of Bern in 2007. She started as a PhD student in Prof. George Thalmann’s lab at the University of Bern, working on the stromal reaction of prostate cancer bone metastasis. She did her post-doc training with Prof. Raghu Kalluri at Harvard University, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research field was genetically engineered mouse models of pancreatic cancer and the contribution of cancer associated fibroblasts to cancer initiation and progression. She obtained her MD PhD degree in 2012. Since 2013 she is active as a clinician, currently working as a consultant in the Oncology Department of Lausanne University Hospital. She is Board Member of the ESMO Gender Task Force and Director of Clinical Activities of the International Cancer Prevention Institute.
Dr. Özdemir‘s main clinical interest is precision oncology and immunooncology. She is studying the impact of sex and gender on cancer risk and patient outcome. In fact, although sex is one of the most important factors influencing disease risk and response to treatment, the patient’s sex is usually not taken into account in clinical decision making. The approximately 10% higher body fat, greater plasma volume and organ perfusion found in women affects pharmacokinetics, especially the distribution and onset of drug action resulting in a higher female susceptibility to the toxicity of different types of drugs. Dr Özdemir advocates that sex as an independent modulator of drug efficacy and toxicity merits consideration for individualization of treatments. She is dedicating significant efforts to investigate sex-dependent dosing of treatment schemes and cancer prevention approaches.
Representative publications
1) Gender Medicine and Oncology: Report and consensus of an ESMO Workshop.
Wagner AD, Oertelt-Prigione S, Adjei A, Buclin T, Cristina V, Csajka C, Coukos G, Dafni U, Dotto GP, Ducreux M, Fellay J, Haanen J, Hocquelet A, Klinge I, Lemmens V, Letsch A, Mauer M, Moehler M, Peters S, Özdemir BC. Ann Oncol. 2019 Oct 15. pii: mdz414. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdz414. [Epub ahead of print]
2) Sex hormones and anticancer immunity, Özdemir BC, Dotto GP. Clin Cancer Res March 19 2019 DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-0137
3) Sex differences in efficacy and toxicity of systemic treatments: an undervalued issue in the era of precision oncology, Özdemir BC, Csajka C, Dotto GP, Wagner AD, J Clin Oncol. 2018 Jul 13:JCO2018783290. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2018.78.3290. [Epub ahead of print]
4) Racial differences in cancer susceptibility and survival: more than the color of the skin? Özdemir BC, Dotto GP, Trends Cancer. 2017 Mar;3(3):181-197. doi: 10.1016/j.trecan.2017.02.002. Epub 2017 Mar 6. Review.
5) The molecular signature of the stroma response in prostate cancer-induced osteoblastic bone metastasis highlights expansion of hematopoietic and prostate epithelial stem cell niches. Özdemir BC, Hensel J, Secondini C, Wetterwald A, Schwaninger R, Fleischmann A, Raffelsberger W, Poch O, Delorenzi M, Temanni R, Mills IG, van der Pluijm G, Thalmann GN, Cecchini MG. PLoS One, 2014 Dec8, 9(12):e114530
6) Depletion of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts and fibrosis induces immunosuppression and accelerates pancreas cancer with diminished survival. Özdemir BC, Pentcheva-Hoang T, Carstens JL, Zheng X, Wu CC, Simpson TR, Laklai H, Sugimoto H, Kahlert C, Novitskiy SV, De Jesus-Acosta A, Sharma P, Heidari P, Mahmood U, Chin L, MosesHL, Weaver VM, Maitra A, Allison JP, LeBleu VS, Kalluri R. Cancer Cell, 2014 Jun 16;25(6):719-34