Major breast cancer trial launched in UK
OnMedica Staff
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
A major UK-based clinical trial has been launched today for women with "triple negative" tumours.
The Triple-Negative Trial aims to improve breast cancer treatment for women with hormone and HER2 negative tumours (sometimes called "triple negative" because they lack oestrogen and progesterone and HER2 receptors). Such tumours are more common among younger women and those of African ethnicity.
According to Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Cancer Research UK, the two charities jointly funding the trial, triple negative tumours account for 15% to 20% of all breast cancers in the UK and, although more common in women of African ethnicity, most breast cancers of this type occur in Caucasian women in the UK due to the demographics of the country’s population.
Hormone and HER2 negative tumours do not respond to targeted treatments like Herceptin or hormone therapies such as tamoxifen but the Triple Negative Trial aims to develop a more tailored and effective chemotherapy treatment for women with hormone and HER2 negative breast cancer, which has spread elsewhere in the body.
The trial will compare women’s responses to the platinum-based drug, carboplatin, not normally used to treat breast cancer, with responses to docetaxel, the current standard treatment for hormone and HER2 negative tumours. Eligible patients will be randomly allocated to receive one of the two treatments and patients will be followed to determine whether carboplatin is a more effective treatment for hormone and HER2 negative breast cancer.
The trial is open to women who have hormone and HER2 negative breast cancer which has spread to another part of the body after treatment. It is hoped that up to 450 women from hospitals in the UK will take part over a five year period.
The trial will be lead by Dr Andrew Tutt, Director of the new Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at King’s College London and Consultant oncologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
More details of the trial can be found at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer website or Cancer Research UK’s clinical trials database.
(Picture: Wellcome Images)
