Sharon Nofech-Mozes

Dr Sharon Nofech-Mozes obtained her medical degree from Tel Aviv University in Israel, where she was trained as an anatomic pathologist.

She then completed 3 year fellowship in breast and gynecologic pathology at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Dr Nofech-Mozes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. She works as a staff pathologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre since 2007, where she leads the breast pathology team and participates in the gynepathology service.

Her main academic interests are in prognostic and predictive markers of breast cancer, particularly ductal carcinoma in situ, role of image analysis in breast pathology and immunohistochemical and molecular ovarian carcinomas.

Research Synopsis

Cancer is a heterogeneous group of diseases associated with variable pathogenesis and outcomes; indeed, variation in tumour biology persists even within the same tumour categories and organs.

My principal academic interest relates to identifying new tumour markers as prognostic factors (or new roles for known markers) and, more importantly, determining their ability to predict response to therapy.

Since 2007 my clinical duties have been carried out in a subspecialty service focused on breast and gynecological pathology; it is therefore natural that my research endeavours have also related to breast and gynecological malignancies.

My work involves an interdisciplinary approach, enhancing the clinical relevance of the study aims, design and findings.

Techniques used in my studies include:

• immunohistochemistry (IHC)
• in situ hybridization
• polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• image analysis. 

Selected Publications

Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes and stromal CD68 in early stage HER2 positive breast cancer. Raphael J, Gong IY, Nofech-Mozes S, Bartlett J, Nafisi H, Verma S. J Clin Pathol. 2016 Mar 7. pii: jclinpath-2015-203493. doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2015-203493. [Epub ahead of print]

Morphometric Analysis in the Diagnosis of Low-Grade Ductal and Lobular Carcinoma in Situ of the Breast. Parra-Herran C, Hope T, Rashed T, Slodkowska E, Lu FI, Nofech-Mozes S. Anal Quant Cytopathol Histpathol. 2015 Dec;37(6):331-8.

The relationship between local recurrence and death in early-stage breast cancer. Sopik V, Nofech-Mozes S, Sun P, Narod SA. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2016 Jan;155(1):175-85. doi: 10.1007/s10549-015-3666-y. Epub 2015 Dec 28.

Whole-mount pathology of breast lumpectomy specimens improves detection of tumour margins and focality. Clarke GM, Holloway CM, Zubovits JT, Nofech-Mozes S, Liu K, Murray M, Wang D, Yaffe MJ. Histopathology. 2015 Dec 8. doi: 10.1111/his.12912. [Epub ahead of print]

Ki-67 Membranous Staining: Biologically Relevant or an Artifact of Multiplexed Immunofluorescent Staining. Wang D, Pang Z, Clarke GM, Nofech-Mozes S, Liu K, Cheung AM, Filkins RJ, Yaffe MJ. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol. 2015 Aug 5. [Epub ahead of print]

An International Multicenter Review of the Malignancy Rate of Excised Papillomatous Breast Lesions. Foley NM, Racz JM, Al-Hilli Z, Livingstone V, Cil T, Holloway CM, Romics L Jr, Matrai Z, Bennett MW, Duddy L, Nofech-Mozes S, Slodkowska E, Mallon EA, Dawson N, Roche T, Relihan N, Hill AD, Redmond HP, Corrigan MA. Ann Surg Oncol. 2015 Dec;22 Suppl 3:S385-90. doi: 10.1245/s10434-015-4773-z. Epub 2015 Aug 4.

The Importance of Applying ACOSOG Z0011 Criteria in the Axillary Management of Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: A Multi-institutional Cohort Study. Roberts A, Nofech-Mozes S, Youngson B, McCready DR, Al-Assi M, Ramkumar S, Cil T. Ann Surg Oncol. 2015 Oct;22(10):3397-401.  

Close or positive resection margins are not associated with an increased risk of chest wall recurrence in women with DCIS treated by mastectomy: a population-based analysis. Klein J, Kong I, Paszat L, Nofech-Mozes S, Hanna W, Thiruchelvam D, Narod SA, Saskin R, Done SJ, Miller N, Youngson B, Tuck A, Sengupta S, Elavathil L, Jani PA, Slodkowska E, Bonin M, Rakovitch E. Springerplus. 2015 Jul 10;4:335.

A population-based validation study of the DCIS Score predicting recurrence risk in individuals treated by breast-conserving surgery alone. Rakovitch E, Nofech-Mozes S, Hanna W, Baehner FL, Saskin R, Butler SM, Tuck A, Sengupta S, Elavathil L, Jani PA, Bonin M, Chang MC, Robertson SJ, Slodkowska E, Fong C, Anderson JM, Jamshidian F, Miller DP, Cherbavaz DB, Shak S, Paszat L. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2015 Jul;152(2):389-98.  

Immunophenotypic Analysis in Early Müllerian Serous Carcinogenesis. Nafisi H, Ghorab Z, Ismill N, Dubé V, Plotkin A, Han G, Cesari M, Lu FI, Saad R, Khalifa M, Nofech-Mozes S. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2015 Sep;34(5):424-36. doi: 10.1097/PGP.0000000000000179.

Identification of a Low-Risk Luminal A Breast Cancer Cohort That May Not Benefit From Breast Radiotherapy. Liu FF, Shi W, Done SJ, Miller N, Pintilie M, Voduc D, Nielsen TO, Nofech-Mozes S, Chang MC, Whelan TJ, Weir LM, Olivotto IA, McCready DR, Fyles AW. J Clin Oncol. 2015 Jun 20;33(18):2035-40.  

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 testing in primary breast cancer in the era of standardized testing: a Canadian prospective study. Hanna WM, Barnes PJ, Chang MC, Gilks CB, Magliocco AM, Rees H, Quenneville L, Robertson SJ, SenGupta SK, Nofech-Mozes S. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Dec 10;32(35):3967-73.  

Long-term outcomes of hypofractionation versus conventional radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast. Lalani N, Paszat L, Sutradhar R, Thiruchelvam D, Nofech-Mozes S, Hanna W, Slodkowska E, Done SJ, Miller N, Youngson B, Tuck A, Sengupta S, Elavathil L, Chang MC, Jani PA, Bonin M, Rakovitch E. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2014 Dec 1;90(5):1017-24.  

Assessment of endometrial sampling as a predictor of final surgical pathology in endometrial cancer. Helpman L, Kupets R, Covens A, Saad RS, Khalifa MA, Ismiil N, Ghorab Z, Dubé V, Nofech-Mozes S. Br J Cancer. 2014 Feb 4;110(3):609-15. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2013.766. Epub 2013 Dec 24.

A novel, automated technology for multiplex biomarker imaging and application to breast cancer. Clarke GM, Zubovits JT, Shaikh KA, Wang D, Dinn SR, Corwin AD, Santamaria-Pang A, Li Q, Nofech-Mozes S, Liu K, Pang Z, Filkins RJ, Yaffe MJ. Histopathology. 2014 Jan;64(2):242-55

Honours and Awards

Clinical Teaching Excellence Award in Fellowship Teaching, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology, University of Toronto (2021)