Office Phone:
646-735-8139 Office Fax:
646-735-0011 E-mail:
pikem@mskcc.org Education:
Aberdeen University, Scotland Current Research Interests
Dr. Pike's research interests are in the etiology and chemoprevention of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer. A woman's risks of endometrial cancer and of ovarian cancer are significantly reduced by having more children and by use of oral contraceptives. First births are the most important for breast cancer and only first births before about 32 years are associated with a reduced risk. To obtain a marked reduced risk the birth must be before about 25 years; births after about age 35 are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Oral contraceptive use provides no protection against breast cancer. Dr. Pike is conducting studies of small amounts of breast tissue taken from normal nulliparous and parous volunteers to determine the biological basis of the changes in risk with age at first birth and is also conducting such studies in volunteers on different types of oral contraceptives to understand their actions on the breast in order to possibly be able to design an oral contraceptive that will reduce the risk of breast cancer without losing the protection against endometrial and ovarian cancer. He is working with radiology faculty at MSKCC to evaluate whether MR imaging can be used to study the 'activity' of the breast as an aid to such studies as well as for monitoring the effects of hormonal chemotherapy. He is also working with gynecologic faculty at MSKCC on understanding the mechanism of protection against ovarian cancer from pregnancies and oral contraceptive use by studying the biology of the fallopian tube where current evidence suggests many ovarian cancers arise.
Publications by Malcolm Pike
