Spotlight: Dame Idossa, MD, is driven to provide tailored breast cancer treatment and reduce disparities in care

It’s an exciting time to work in breast cancer treatment for Dame Idossa, MD, a medical oncologist with M Health Fairview and assistant professor at University of Minnesota Medical School.

“Our field is continuing to develop at a rapid pace and, fortunately, many people who receive a breast cancer diagnosis respond well to treatment,” said Idossa, who sees patients at the M Health Fairview Clinics and Surgery Center - Minneapolis. "Even in situations where we can’t offer cure, we have an increasing number of options available to help patients manage their symptoms.”

In addition to our breast cancer care at the Clinics and Surgery Center in Minneapolis, we’ve recently opened five new multi-specialty breast centers across the metro for easy access to multidisciplinary treatment all in one place.

Idossa walks with her patients through every step of their journey, tailoring care to each person and working to reduce health disparities in breast cancer screening and diagnosis. She and her team are also at the forefront of advances in treatment, including a clinical trial that could help oncologists develop more precise and individualized breast cancer treatment methods. Idossa is a member of the Masonic Cancer Center, a research environment dedicated to studying cancer prevention, detection, and treatment.

We sat down with Idossa to discuss both her clinical work and her commitment to equity in breast cancer care.

How did you decide to specialize in breast cancer care?

I’ve always had an interest in women’s health. I completed my residency in internal medicine at Mayo Clinic and had the opportunity to explore a number of subspecialties. I enjoyed my time working in oncology and, through a fellowship at the University of California – San Francisco, I was able to do specialized training in medical oncology with a focus on solid tumors and specifically breast cancer. I finished my fellowship in spring 2022 and began work at M Health Fairview in the fall of that year. Working with patients with breast cancer involves many of the things I enjoy most about medicine: I get to form longitudinal relationships with my patients, and I’m able to offer them an increasing array of treatments. It’s an exciting time to be part of this team.

As a medical oncologist, what is your role in caring for people with breast cancer?

I see patients after they’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer care can be complicated, and we collaborate closely as a team to make treatment as effective and streamlined as possible for our patients. As a medical oncologist, I’m responsible for systemic therapies like chemotherapy, oral and targeted medications. I collaborate closely with our surgical oncologists, who perform surgery to remove the patient’s tumor in coordination with the systemic therapies we provide and with our radiation oncologists, who offer radiation therapy for patients who need it. Our goal as medical oncologists is individualize treatment for our patients and offer them treatment options that are in line with their goals.

We have a great group of physicians here who are very collaborative. Every week we discuss complex cases with our colleagues in surgery, radiation oncology, pathology, and radiology and use our collective expertise to form treatment plans. We also have great nurses who help patients navigate through their diagnosis and treatment, again in an effort to make care as straightforward as possible for people navigating breast cancer treatment.

What’s next in breast cancer treatment?

Our team is participating in a national innovative clinical trial, called I-SPY2. The goal of the trial is to find new ways to personalize care for each patient. We want to deliver the right type of chemotherapy for the right patient. We use novel agents which hopefully will have less toxicity, while being just as or more effective than standard treatments. We use different imaging techniques to determine if the tumors are responding to the novel treatments. Our goal is for patients to have no live tumor cells before surgery, but we recognize that the path to reaching this goal is different for each patient. For example, as a standard of care, patients with triple negative breast cancer typically undergo five months of chemotherapy or immunotherapy prior to surgery. As we’re researching through this trial, there’s potential to decrease that amount of time for patients who respond to novel chemotherapy agents. Finding new ways to tailor treatment can improve outcomes for our patients while minimizing side effects.

Tell us about your work to improve equity in breast cancer care.

We’re fortunate to be seeing many new developments in cancer treatment, and a lot of these breakthroughs are made possible by participation in clinical trials. Unfortunately, clinical trials don’t often reflect the general population. There aren’t proportionate numbers of participants who are non-English speakers, who live in rural areas, or who come from diverse ethnic, racial or socioeconomic backgrounds. At times, the barriers to participate in clinical trials can be higher for these populations. This is a particular area of interest for me in my research. How can we redesign clinical trials to remove barriers to participation?

Another project I’m working on is to define some of the specific barriers for patients with low English language proficiency or low health literacy when it comes to accessing cancer treatment. We have a lot of inequities in cancer outcomes, and we’ve known that for a long time. This research is focused on trying to understand the specific barriers for our communities here in Minnesota.

Can you discuss the importance of having diverse representation in clinical trials?

It's important to have clinical trials reflect the general population for a lot of reasons. First, when I offer treatments to my patients, I want to be sure that they will be as effective for my patients as they were for the people in the trial. The more reflective the research was of the general population, the more confident I can feel in making a recommendation. It’s important for us to understand potential differences in toxicity and efficacy in novel drugs. They may function the same in all patients, but either way it’s helpful to have that representative data.

Second, it’s a huge equity issue. We know that patients with cancer who participate in clinical trials have better survival rates. They’re sometimes able to access highly effective drugs before these medications are available to the general population. It’s important to ensure that option is available for everyone who wants to participate.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently issued a draft recommendation that women begin breast cancer screening at 40 years old. What should people know about the new guidelines?

I’m a huge believer in personalizing care. I have plenty of patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer before they turned 40. It’s important for everybody to know that the task force’s recommendation for people at average risk of breast cancer is now to begin screening at 40-years-old (instead of 50). However, if people have a family history of breast cancer or certain genetic mutations, their screening recommendations are different and may start earlier in life. If people fall into a high-risk category, it’s important to talk to their doctor about appropriate screening.

To schedule an appointment with our team of breast cancer specialists, call 855-486-7226.

Visit our “Beyond the Diagnosis” series for expert health and wellness advice for people living with breast cancer. Learn more here.