Virgilio Sacchini, MD

People newly diagnosed with breast cancer are often devastated by this news and are afraid of what lies ahead. They may be scared by the thought of surgery and treatment, or of dying from their disease. My goal is to help them feel confident that they are in good hands and that we will take care of them, because they are more than just a medical record number.

I reassure my patients that this disease is treatable and they can continue to have a good quality of life. Each person at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) receives a customized care plan that includes state-of-the-art therapies tailored to meet their physical and psychological needs, not just the cancer itself.

Breast cancers are not all the same, and each one may respond to a different therapeutic approach. With better operations like nipple-sparing mastectomy, plastic surgery techniques, and conservative surgery, we have been able to improve cosmetic results and quality of life for people with breast cancer.

Early in my career, I became very committed to working to decrease the incidence of cancer and improve its curability. Breast cancer is a fascinating model disease to study, especially as new methods and techniques have been developed to treat it.

Today, cancer care often uses multiple approaches, including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapies. These can often be combined to determine the best care plan for each person, without risking undertreatment or overtreatment, and reducing complications and side effects as much as possible.

At MSK, I am an active researcher involved in several clinical trials, including studies to investigate chemoprevention of breast cancer, prophylactic nipple-sparing mastectomy for women at high risk of breast cancer, and intraoperative radiation therapy for people with early-stage disease. Additionally, I have published more than 160 research papers and book chapters about breast cancer.

Prior to joining MSK, I served as Deputy Director of the Breast Department at the European Institute of Oncology, a leading institution for the study and treatment of breast cancer. I was a co-investigator of clinical trials in Milan to evaluate lumpectomy and sentinel-node mapping in people with breast cancer. I was also a clinical coordinator of the Italian Breast Cancer Prevention Study with Tamoxifen and a clinical investigator in breast cancer trials for the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).

As a pioneer of nipple sparing mastectomy, I have had one of the largest experiences with this technique in the United States. My scientific activity in the last 15 years has focused on showing its safety in certain people with breast cancer, including those at high-risk for the disease. I have written several papers focusing on refinements of nipple-sparing mastectomy and its impact on oncologic and cosmetic outcomes. Additionally, I have authored more than 160 research papers and book chapters about breast cancer and its diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.