Larry Norton, MD, a breast oncologist, is renowned as a leader in the development of drug treatments for breast cancer. His work has established the value of using sequential combinations of drugs -- a strategy designed to overcome different drug sensitivities among the cells in a tumor.
At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), Norton is deputy physician-in-chief for breast cancer programs and the medical director of MSK-64th Street, comprised of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center and the Iris Cantor Diagnostic Center. He is the principal investigator of a program project grant from the National Cancer Institute that is aimed at better understanding breast cancer in the laboratory and in bringing these advances into clinical practice.
Norton, the Norna S. Sarofim Chair in clinical oncology, received his MD degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, did residencies at Bronx Municipal Hospital Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. He is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.
He has served leadership positions in several national cancer-related organizations, including serving as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in 2001-2002, and is chairman of the board of directors of the ASCO Foundation. He was formerly the chair of the breast committee of the National Cancer Institute's Cancer and Leukemia Group B, and is president of the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO). He was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board (the board of directors of the National Cancer Institute).