V. Suzanne Klimberg¹, Jin Ye Yeo²

¹Cancer Institute, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, USA; ²CCO Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company

Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. CCO Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: editor@thecco.net

This interview can be cited as: Klimberg VS, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of CCO: Prof. V. Suzanne Klimberg. Chin Clin Oncol. 2025. Available from: https://cco.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-cco-prof-v-suzanne-klimberg.

Expert introduction

Prof. V. Suzanne Klimberg (Figure 1) is Courtney M Townsend, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Chair in General Surgery, Professor and Vice Chair for Administration, Chief of Surgical Oncology, Medical Director for the UTMB Cancer Center, and Adjunct Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Prof. Klimberg’s specialties are prevention of lymphedema using the axillary reverse mapping (ARM) technique, oncoplastic breast surgery, needleless breast surgery, minimally invasive breast surgery, treatment of breast cancer with radiofrequency ablation, diagnosis of breast cancer with tears, preventive screening for cancer, breast pain, chest wall pain after surgery and survivorship after cancer.

Prof. Klimberg is considered an authority in innovations in breast cancer and lymphedema. She is Past president of the Association of Academic Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and the Southern Surgical Association. She is a Senior Director for the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Complex Surgical Oncology, and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. She has authored over 350 papers, 75 book chapters, and 17 books. She holds 9 patents, many having to do with the development of innovative techniques in breast cancer surgery.

Figure 1 Prof. V. Suzanne Klimberg

Interview

CCO: What drove you into the field of breast surgical oncology?

Prof. Klimberg: Breast surgery has a little bit of everything including innovations in surgery and treatment for breast cancer, psychology as well as plastic surgery or oncoplastic techniques.

CCO: What motivated you to focus on improving surgical outcomes for breast cancer patients, and how have your goals evolved over time?

Prof. Klimberg: When I trained almost 40 years ago it was more or less mastectomy, very little reconstruction, and nearly everyone got chemotherapy. Now we have really de-escalated therapy and have treatments that are much less morbid.

CCO: Lymphedema is a challenging condition for many breast cancer patients. Could you share some of the key advancements you have witnessed or contributed to its prevention and treatment?

Prof. Klimberg: The main one is the development of the axillary reverse lymphatic mapping (ARM) procedure that identifies and separates what is coming from the upper extremity versus that of the breast and being able to put lymphatics back together and really massively decreases the risk of lymphedema with axillary surgery.

CCO: What do you see as the future direction for the research in the prevention and treatment of lymphedema?

Prof. Klimberg: I am the principal investigator on the ARM trial from Alliance (1). The 3-year follow-up will be mature in June and hopefully will prove its efficacy so that more surgeons will use it for their patients. We have explored and published the idea in other surgeries, especially for the lower extremities – e.g. LEG (lower extremity glandography).

CCO: You have developed innovative techniques in breast-conserving surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsy. Could you share the challenges you faced during the development of these techniques and how you overcame them?

Prof. Klimberg: The challenges are always getting other surgeons to read and accept the data. It takes time for acceptance of new techniques. It has taken ARM nearly 20 years to come into its own.

CCO: In your experience, how has the integration of biological research into surgical practices improved breast cancer treatment outcomes, and what areas still need more exploration?

Prof. Klimberg: The de-escalation of toxic therapy. 30 years ago, almost everyone got chemotherapy, but now, only about a third do. Radiation is following that same path. Surgery has been de-escalated as well.

CCO: How has your experience been as a longstanding Editorial Board Member of CCO? What are your expectations for CCO?

Prof. Klimberg: Wonderful. The journal has really come into its own and has an Impact Factor to be proud of. I am honored to be a member. I expect the journal to keep growing and improving its reputation.

Reference

1. Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. Arm: Axillary Reverse Mapping - a Prospective Trial to Study Rates of Lymphedema and Regional Recurrence after Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Followed by Axillary Lymph Node Dissection with and without Axillary Reverse Mapping. Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03927027.