Prof. Helena Madeira

Prof. Helena Madeira is one of Portugal's foremost medical oncologists, practising at the Instituto Português de Oncologia (IPO) de Lisboa — Portugal's national cancer institute and the country's most specialised centre for oncological diagnosis and treatment. With more than 25 years of clinical and research experience, she has built a practice at the intersection of breast oncology, lung cancer, and translational biomarker science.

IPO Lisboa is the reference institution for cancer care in Portugal, receiving patients from across the country and acting as the national coordinator for cancer clinical trials through the IPOCFG network. Prof. Madeira works within IPO's multidisciplinary breast cancer team, where she is responsible for medical oncology decision-making across the full spectrum of disease — from early-stage operable breast cancer through locally advanced and metastatic disease — integrating systemic therapy with surgery and radiotherapy through a coordinated tumour board.

Her clinical focus is on HER2-positive breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), where the emergence of targeted therapies and immunotherapy has transformed the treatment landscape. She is one of Portugal's most experienced investigators in biomarker-driven clinical trials, having served as principal investigator for studies evaluating EGFR-targeted therapy in lung cancer and novel HER2-directed agents in breast cancer.

Prof. Madeira is committed to advancing access to cutting-edge cancer treatments in Portugal, both through participation in international clinical trials and through her leadership in the Sociedade Portuguesa de Oncologia (SPO). She is an active contributor to ESMO educational initiatives and has represented Portugal at international oncology congresses for over two decades.

Prof. Madeira completed her medical degree at a Portuguese faculty of medicine and subsequently trained in internal medicine and oncology at IPO Lisboa and affiliated institutions. Her doctoral research (PhD) focused on molecular markers in breast cancer prognosis and treatment response, establishing the translational oncology focus that has characterised her subsequent career.

She pursued advanced training in medical oncology through postgraduate fellowships at leading European cancer centres, building expertise in clinical trial methodology, biomarker science, and the systemic treatment of solid tumours. She holds the Fellowship of the European Society for Medical Oncology (FESMO) and is a member of ESMO and ASCO. Her academic affiliation with IPO Lisboa allows her to combine clinical practice with research and the training of oncology residents and fellows.

Prof. Madeira's clinical expertise encompasses the management of breast cancer across all subtypes and stages. For HER2-positive disease, she manages neoadjuvant and adjuvant trastuzumab-pertuzumab regimens, and advanced disease with TDM-1 (trastuzumab emtansine) and trastuzumab deruxtecan. For triple-negative breast cancer, she coordinates immunotherapy — particularly pembrolizumab — with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and manages PARP inhibitor therapy for BRCA-mutated patients.

In lung cancer, she specialises in EGFR-mutated NSCLC managed with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (osimertinib, erlotinib, gefitinib) and ALK/ROS1-rearranged disease treated with crizotinib, alectinib, and lorlatinib. She uses comprehensive genomic profiling, PD-L1 testing, FISH, and NGS (next-generation sequencing) to guide therapeutic selection. Her clinical trial portfolio provides eligible patients access to investigational agents in early-phase and phase III studies not yet commercially available.

Prof. Madeira has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in oncology, with contributions to major journals including Annals of Oncology, the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, and Lung Cancer. Her research focuses on HER2 therapy in breast cancer, EGFR-targeted therapy in lung cancer, and the development and validation of predictive biomarkers for treatment selection.

She has been a principal and co-investigator in multiple phase II and phase III clinical trials conducted under ESMO, ASCO, and industry-sponsored programmes, including biomarker-selected studies that have contributed to regulatory submissions. She has presented her research at ESMO and ASCO annual congresses and serves as a reviewer for major oncology journals. Her work on biomarker-driven trial design has helped raise the profile of Portuguese oncology research internationally.

IPO Lisboa is an internationally recognised cancer centre that welcomes patients from across the Portuguese-speaking world and from broader Europe. Prof. Madeira consults in Portuguese and English. For international patients seeking a second opinion on a breast or lung cancer diagnosis and treatment plan, video consultations are available to review pathology reports, molecular testing results, and imaging.

IPO's patient services team assists with travel logistics, insurance pre-authorisation, and cost transparency. EU patients can use the EHIC or European cross-border healthcare directive mechanisms. Lisbon is easily accessible from across Europe and the Portuguese-speaking world, and the IPO campus offers integrated cancer care — medical oncology, surgery, radiotherapy, and supportive care — on a single site.

Prof. Madeira has been recognised by both Portuguese and European oncology organisations for her contributions to cancer medicine and research. She is the recipient of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Oncologia (SPO) Research Excellence Award, given for outstanding scientific contributions to oncology in Portugal. She received the IPO Clinical Innovation Prize for her work in implementing biomarker-driven trial design and next-generation sequencing in routine clinical practice. She is a Fellow of the European Society for Medical Oncology (FESMO), reflecting recognition of her clinical and scientific excellence by the foremost oncology society in Europe.