Breast Cancer Trials

Can We Improve Breast Cancer Treatment with Fewer Side Effects? As part of the Breast Cancer Trials clinical fellowship program, Dr Adam Ofri is working on two research projects focusing on the de-escalation of treatment. His first study, called the ‘Targeted Axillary Dissection Based Study’, aims to evaluate the armpit nodes after chemotherapy, in the hopes that fewer nodes will need to be remove...

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: What New Clinical Trials are Uncovering Diane Barker lives in Sydney with her husband Mike, their daughter Eva, and their dog Boston. In December 2020, at just 44 years of age, Diane was diagnosed with locally advanced triple negative breast cancer. We spoke with Diane about her diagnosis, her decision to participate in a clinical trial and the importance of supporti...

Developing Breakthrough Treatments for Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Since 1978, Breast Cancer Trials has conducted a number of clinical trials which have changed the way we treat breast cancer, save lives and improve patient quality of life. We spoke with one of our founders, Professor Alan Coates AM, about the ANZ8101 and BIG 1-98 clinical trials, which were practice-changing research and still hav...

Developing Breakthrough Treatments for Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common subtype of breast cancer, with 2,400 new cases each year in Australia. Patients with ILC may have a poorer outcome over time and the cancer has a tendency to metastasize to atypical sites such as the gastrointestinal tract, gynaecological organs or orbit (eye).  We spoke wit...

How to Ease the Fear of Breast Cancer Recurrence Approximately 70% of women experience moderate to high levels of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) and up to 15% experience severe, disabling FCR characterised by constant, intrusive thoughts about cancer; interpretation of mild, unrelated symptoms as a sign of recurrence; a belief that cancer will return regardless of actual prognosis; and an inabili...

Endocrine Therapy: Are We Overtreating Breast Cancer? Endocrine Therapy, also known as hormone therapy, is a treatment that tries to block or reduce circulating estrogens, which are what drive the majority of breast cancers. Dr Belinda Yeo is a Medical Oncologist at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, who is researching the level of therapy that breast cancer p...

HER2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer: Are We Getting Closer to a Cure? Dr David Okonji is a Medical Oncologist at Wellington Hospital in New Zealand, who is researching metastatic breast cancer. He's asking the question: Are we curing HER+ Metastatic Breast Cancer? He was a guest speaker at the 2022 Breast Cancer Trials Annual Scientific Meeting, and we asked Dr Okonji to explain his research on thi...

Supporting a Loved One Through Breast Cancer: What Really Helps? Associate Professor Lesley Stafford is a clinical psychologist in psycho-oncology and women's health, with a specific interest in women with or at risk of breast cancer. She consults in the Breast Service and Familial Cancer Centre at the Royal Melbourne Hospital as well as in private practice, and is an Associate Professor at th...

CDK4/6 Inhibitors: Are We Using Them to Their Full Potential? Dr Shom Goel is a clinician-scientist at the University of Melbourne and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, with a strong interest in Translational Breast Cancer Research. He was a guest speaker at the 2022 Breast Cancer Trials Annual Scientific Meeting, and we asked Dr Goel to explain his research on CDK4/6 inhibitors and where research is...

The 'Finding My Way' Program: A New Approach to Coping with Cancer Finding My Way is an online coping program for individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer. The program is designed to support people through their cancer diagnosis, as well as help to provide strategies to live well despite this diagnosis. We talk with Associate Professor Lisa Beatty as she explains what 'Finding M...

Why it's So Hard to Recruit for World-First Breast Cancer Trials As part of a Clinical Fellowship project with Breast Cancer Trials, Dr Christine Muttiah is aiming to assist in the clinical conduct of the BRCA-P study in the hopes of increasing recruitment across all 14 Breast Cancer Trials BRCA-P sites. We asked Dr Muttiah to provide an overview of this project and its aims. Like this episode...

Creating a Better Model of Care for Young Women with Breast Cancer As part of a Clinical Fellowship project with Breast Cancer Trials, Dr Elizabeth Blackley is working on a study that involves the collection of data and the development of a registry on breast cancer incidents, treatment outcomes, and quality of life metrics in young Australian women. The aim is to help form a streamlined model of...

Can We Prevent Breast Cancer? Here's What Science Says While there is no way to prevent breast cancer, there are steps that can be taken to lower one's risk of being diagnosed, particularly for women with a strong family history or those who carry a gene mutation. Dr Wanda Cui is a Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and is researching breast cancer prevention within th...

Early Detection of Metastatic Disease: Does it Really Make a Difference? Professor Prue Francis is a Medical Oncologist and the Clinical Head of Breast Medical Oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Professor Francis is researching into Metastatic breast cancer, asking the question: Does Detecting Metastatic Disease Early Make a Difference? We asked her to explain her research on this topi...

New Hope for HR+ Breast Cancer Patients: What's Next? Dr Hope Rugo is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr Rugo is a Principal Investigator of multiple clinical trials focusing on combining novel targeted therapeutics with standard treatment. We asked Dr Rugo to explain her research topic: New Options in HR+ Breas...

Why Health Econoics Plays a Big Role in Clinical Trials Health economics is used in clinical trials to ensure information is being collected in the right way so that it can be provided to the minister or committees such as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee so that they can compare new treatments with existing treatments to decide what drugs should be funded in the public system. We as...

Comparing NASHA Gel vs. Surgical Clips: New Research in Breast Cancer Radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery plays an important role in the management of early breast cancer, decreasing the risk of breast cancer returning and improving mortality rates. Dr Janice Yeh is evaluating the technical feasibility and clinical performance of the novel NASHA gel compared to standard surgical clip...

What it's Like to Participate in a Cutting-Edge Clinical Trial Madelaine Atkins was 50 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, in 2008, after finding a small lump in her right breast. Despite receiving chemotherapy, radiation, and having surgery to remove her right breast, unfortunately, in 2011, Madelaine was diagnosed with Advanced Breast Cancer in her shoulder, neck, and lymph node...

The BRCA-P Clinical Trial: A New Path for Breast Cancer Prevention Katharine and Skye had never met each other, but they shared something in common. Both women carry the BRCA-1 gene mutation. This is an inherited gene that increases their chance of developing breast cancer by 70% and ovarian cancer by 40% throughout their lifetime. Until now, life-changing invasive surgery and regular breast scree...

Race for a Cure: How Families are Making a Difference Ben and Michael Kavich are brothers and race car drivers, who are asking you to support life-saving breast cancer trials research by donating to Race for a Cure. Race for a Cure was founded by Ben's wife, Toula, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer following the Bathurst 6 Hour in 2016. Toula's disease shocked the Kavich family wh...

Diagnosed at 31: The Journey of a Young Breast Cancer Patient At just 31 years old, Laura found a lump in her breast and was shortly after diagnosed with breast cancer. We spoke with Laura about her shock diagnosis, her decision to participate in the Breast MRI Evaluation Study, and her advice to other young women who have also received a diagnosis. Like this episode? ⁠⁠Follow Breast Cancer Trials...

Hand and Foot Syndrome: A Side Effect You Should Know About A side effect of some chemotherapy and targeted breast cancer treatments is Hand and Foot syndrome, also known as hand-foot syndrome, Palmar-Plantar Erythrodysesthesia, or PPE. We spoke with Senior Podiatrist Rebecca Angus about the symptoms of the side effect and how it's treated. Like this episode? ⁠⁠Follow Breast Cancer Trials on S...

Living with a BRCA1 Gene Mutation: One Woman's Experience Dimity Paul knew she carried an 80% risk of developing breast cancer since she was 21 years old, although it still came as a huge shock when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 31. She spoke with us about her experience with the BRCA1 gene mutation, her participation in the OlympiA clinical trial, and how being a part of a supportiv...

Taking Charge of Your Breast Cancer Risk: What You Can Do Today Samantha was only 21 years old when she found out she had the BRCA1 gene mutation. This means she has a 70% risk of developing breast cancer and a 40% risk of developing ovarian cancer. She spoke with us about her decision to participate in the BRCA-P clinical trial. Like this episode? ⁠⁠Follow Breast Cancer Trials on Social Media: In...

Partial Breast Irradiation: Is it Right for You? In this podcast episode, we spoke with Professor Julia White, a tenured Professor of Radiation Oncology and Koltz Sisters Chair for Cancer Research at the Ohio State University, about partial breast irradiation. We discuss the different types of this treatment, who it is best suited for, and how research is being continued in this area. Like this ep...