Dr Hope S. Rugo

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Breast Oncology

  • UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • location United States

Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, is a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer research and treatment. A Professor of Medicine, Dr. Rugo joined the Breast Care Center in 1999 after a decade of experience at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in malignant hematology/ bone marrow transplantation. She entered the field of breast cancer in order to incorporate novel therapies with excellent quality of care into the treatment of breast cancer. Dr. Rugo graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1983. She completed a residency in internal medicine and primary care followed by a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF and was a post-doctoral fellow in immunology at Stanford University. Dr. Rugo joined the
faculty at UCSF in 1990.


Dr. Rugo is the Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is a principal investigator of multiple clinical trials focusing on novel targeted therapeutics to improve the treatment of breast cancer, publishing widely in this area. Her research interests include immunotherapy and combinations of targeted agents to treat breast cancer, as well as management of toxicity. She is co-chair of the Safety Committee for the multicenter adaptively randomized phase II I-SPY2 trial, co-chair of the Triple Negative Working Group of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC) and a member of the Alliance breast committee. Dr. Rugo is an active clinician and is committed to education. She has received a number of awards honoring her work.

Dr Hope S. Rugo has received financial support/sponsorship for research support, consultation, or speaker fees from the following companies:

Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca; Daiichi Sankyo, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG/Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline; Lilly; Merck & Co., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, OBI Pharma, Pfizer, Pionyr Immunotherapeutics, Sermonix Pharmaceuticals, Taiho Oncology, Veru and funding for consultancy/advisory support from Puma, NAPO, Mylan, Eisai, and Daiichi
Sankyo.