Department of Pathology

Dalhousie University

Gillian Bethune, MD FRCPC

Associate Professor

Dr Gillian Bethune
Department of Pathology

Email: gillian.bethune@nshealth.ca
Phone: 902-473-7512
Mailing Address: 
Room 714 Mackenzie Building 5788 University Ave Halifax, NS B3H 1V8
 
Research Topics:
  • HER2 Testing in Breast Cancer
  • Quality Assurance in Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology
  • Education in Pathology
  • Breast tumours

Program Director, Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology

Biography

Dr. Bethune is a practicing Diagnostic and Molecular Pathologist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, NS with subspecialty interests in breast and gynecologic pathology. She is involved in education within the Department of Pathology, as Program Director for the Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology Residency Program and as a teacher to medical students and undergraduate science students. She regularly supervises research projects of students and residents.

Education

  • BSc Hon: Western University, London, ON
  • MD: Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
  • Anatomical Pathology Residency: Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
  • Fellowship in Breast Pathology: University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

Selected Publications

  1. Bethune G, Karkada M, DeCoste R, Barnes P, Rayson D.  Isolated tumor cells in sentinel lymph nodes for primary breast cancer: A cohort analysis. Clinical Breast Cancer 2019 (accepted; pending publication)
  2. Khan I, Yoo B, Masson O, Surette A, Dakin-Hache K, Younis T, Bethune G, Rosen K. ErbB2-driven downregulation of a transcription factor Irf6 in breast epithelial cells is required for their three-dimensional growth. Breast Cancer Res. 2018 Dec 13;20(1):151-157.
  3. DeCoste R, Merrimen J, Bethune G. “Stakeholder Survey of Pathology Reporting: A Nova Scotia Perspective” Canadian Journal of Pathology 2018; 10(4): 8-11.
  4. Bethune G, Younis T, Veldhuijzen van Zanten D, Barnes P. Invasive breast carcinomas with equivocal HER2 in situ hybridization test results. Canadian Journal of Pathology 2017; 9(4): 31-38.
  5. Bethune G, Pettit A, Veldhuijzen van Zanten D, Barnes P. Well-differentiated invasive breast cancers with equivocal HER2 immunohistochemistry: What is the yield of routine reflex in situ hybridization testing? Histopathology 2017; 70(6) 966-974.
  6. Stevenson M, Carter M, Bethune G. Utilization and Evaluation of Surgical Pathology Reports by Family Physicians: A Quality Assurance Study. Can J Pathol 2016; 8(3): 62-68.
  7. Bethune G, Mullen B, Chang M. Detecting intratumoral heterogeneity in routine breast-HER2 testing: low yield of testing multiple blocks. Ann of Diag Pathol 2015; 19(6): 385-390.
  8. Bethune GC, Veldhuijen van Zanten DV, MacIntosh RF, Rayson D, Younis T, Thompson K, Barnes PJ. Impact of the 2013 ASCO/CAP guideline recommendations for HER2 testing of invasive breast carcinoma: a focus on tumors assessed as 'equivocal' for HER2 gene amplification by FISH. Histopathology 2015; 67(6): 880-887.