Tari A. King, MD, FACS

I am a board-certified surgeon with clinical expertise diagnosing and treating breast cancer. In addition to my clinical practice, I am active in translational research and am the principal investigator of the William F. Keck Laboratory for Breast Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.

The overriding goal of my laboratory research has been to develop a better understanding of the molecular genetics of breast cancer with a focus on the progression of high risk lesions such as lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). Previous data suggests that LCIS is a risk marker and does not become invasive cancer; however recent studies have reopened this debate. We hypothesize that molecular changes present in LCIS can be used to predict a woman’s risk of developing invasive breast cancer. We are testing this hypothesis using a variety of gene expression assays with the support of Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s genomics core facility. This project is supported by the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.