Dr. Isabelle Lapointe

Dr. Isabelle Lapointe is a distinguished medical oncologist at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in Montreal, Quebec, one of Canada's leading academic health science centres. With 18 years of clinical and research experience, she is recognized nationally and internationally for her expertise in breast cancer and gastrointestinal oncology, as well as her pioneering work in precision and genomic oncology.

Dr. Lapointe's clinical practice at the MUHC Cedars Cancer Centre is deeply multidisciplinary, integrating surgical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, and medical oncology into cohesive, personalized treatment plans. She leads tumour boards for breast and GI cancers and is a committed advocate for ensuring that patients from Quebec's diverse francophone and anglophone communities have equal access to the most advanced cancer treatments available.

A bilingual clinician and researcher, Dr. Lapointe conducts consultations in both French and English, making her an invaluable resource for patients across Quebec and for French-speaking international patients from Europe and Africa who seek specialized oncology care in North America. She is known among colleagues and patients alike for her thoroughness, empathy, and ability to translate complex oncological concepts into accessible language.

Dr. Lapointe is an Associate Professor of Medicine at McGill University and holds a cross-appointment in the Department of Oncology. She mentors graduate students and medical residents in oncology and is a strong proponent of patient engagement in clinical research, regularly inviting eligible patients to participate in clinical trials that may offer access to cutting-edge therapies.

Dr. Lapointe completed her medical degree at Université de Montréal, graduating with distinction before pursuing her Royal College residency training in Internal Medicine at McGill University Health Centre. She subsequently completed a Fellowship in Medical Oncology at the MUHC, during which she developed deep expertise in breast and gastrointestinal malignancies and received intensive training in clinical trials methodology.

Paralleling her clinical training, Dr. Lapointe pursued a PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill University, where her doctoral research focused on molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in HER2-positive breast cancer — work that earned her the McGill Faculty of Medicine Graduate Studies Award.

She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Institut Curie in Paris, France, further developing her knowledge of targeted oncology and translational cancer research in a European academic context. Dr. Lapointe is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC) in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology, the highest professional designation for specialist physicians in Canada.

Dr. Lapointe's primary clinical focus is the systemic treatment of solid tumors, with subspecialty emphasis on breast cancer and gastrointestinal oncology. In breast cancer, she manages patients across all stages, from early-stage hormone receptor-positive disease to metastatic HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer. She has extensive experience prescribing CDK4/6 inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates, and immune checkpoint inhibitors — treatments that have transformed the metastatic breast cancer landscape.

In gastrointestinal oncology, Dr. Lapointe manages colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, and hepatocellular cancers, applying biomarker-driven selection of chemotherapy and targeted agents. She is a strong proponent of molecular tumor profiling using next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify actionable mutations that can guide targeted therapy selection.

Her precision oncology practice includes management of patients with rare targetable alterations such as NTRK fusions, RET rearrangements, and MSI-H/dMMR tumors responding to immunotherapy. Conditions she regularly treats include early and metastatic breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers, pancreatic cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Dr. Lapointe has authored and co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading oncology journals including the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), Annals of Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and JAMA Oncology. Her research contributions span translational breast cancer biology, outcomes research in GI oncology, and the implementation of genomic profiling in clinical practice.

She serves as a principal investigator on multiple Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) studies and collaborates with international cooperative groups including ECOG-ACRIN. Her laboratory at the MUHC Research Institute investigates mechanisms of intrinsic and acquired resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors in hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, with a focus on identifying predictive biomarkers that can guide treatment sequencing.

Dr. Lapointe has received research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI), and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She is a regular presenter at ASCO Annual Meeting, ESMO Congress, and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, and is frequently invited to speak at Canadian national oncology meetings.

Dr. Lapointe treats international patients from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, many of whom seek oncology consultation at MUHC because of its academic reputation and her bilingual (French-English) practice. The MUHC International Patient Services office assists with medical visa documentation, treatment cost estimation, and coordination with home-country oncologists.

For patients unable to travel to Montreal, Dr. Lapointe offers video telemedicine consultations for second opinion assessments, during which she reviews pathology reports, genomic profiling results, and imaging to provide her expert opinion on diagnosis and treatment approach. This service is particularly valuable for French-speaking patients in Europe and Africa who wish to obtain a Canadian academic medical oncology opinion.

Post-treatment, Dr. Lapointe provides comprehensive discharge summaries and ongoing consultation support for oncologists in patients' home countries, facilitating continuity of care and safe administration of complex regimens internationally.

Dr. Lapointe has received the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute New Investigator Award and the McGill University Health Centre Department of Medicine Excellence in Research Award. She has been recognized by the Canadian Association of Medical Oncologists for her contributions to clinical oncology training and has served as a faculty mentor in the ASCO International Development and Education Award (IDEA) program.

She holds a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC) in both Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology — representing the gold standard of specialist credentialing in Canada. Dr. Lapointe has been recognized in the annual Best Doctors in Canada directory and serves on the scientific committee of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG).