The key priorities that will impact on the future treatment of breast
cancer have been identified by a group of experts on the disease.
Research published in the online open access journal Breast Cancer
Research may focus research resources onto the issues highlighted as top
priorities.
A team led by Professor Mitch Dowsett, Head of Biochemistry at The Royal
Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, based in London and Surrey, together with
colleagues from the USA, Switzerland and Italy carried out an
international, web-based consultation to identify the most pressing issues
that could be tackled by translational research. Translational research -
which is concerned with the transfer of findings from the lab to the
clinic - holds huge promise for the individualisation of cancer treatment.
In this study, a database of over 4000 potential participants (breast
cancer professionals, including clinicians, research scientists, academics
and pathologists) was created using attendee details from two major breast
cancer conferences, one held in the USA and one in Europe. Participants
were asked to register online and then log the most important questions
that they felt the research community should tackle.
A steering committee reduced the 409 questions registered to 70 unique
issues, from which participants were asked to vote for their 'top six'. In
all, 420 participants from 48 countries voted; around half of voters
classed themselves as clinicians.
The top research priority found was the identification of molecular
signatures to select patients who could be spared chemotherapy. The second
most pressing issue also involved chemotherapy, namely the identification
of features to help clinicians choose the optimal chemotherapy regimen for
individual patients.
While translational research in breast cancer has increased greatly over
recent years, individual projects often reflect the immediate interests of
the research group, rather than attempting to answer a specific question
with potential to alter patient management. Identifying issues deemed
important by the research community could help focus translational
research resources, ensuring that opportunities for important clinical
advances aren't missed.
"This appears to be a novel way to identify the most important challenges
for improving breast cancer treatment and prevention" explains Professor
Dowsett. "The work will allow investigators globally to select the most
relevant clinical research questions in their efforts to translate the
major advances in basic science to improvements in the clinical management
of this common malignancy. I am grateful to the participants from 48
countries who made this possible."
Notes:
* Professor Dowsett is also Professor of Translational Research in the
Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre based at The Institute of
Cancer Research in London
Article:
International web-based consultation on priorities for translational
breast cancer research
Mitch Dowsett, Aron Goldhirsch, Dan Hayes, Hans-Joerg Senn, William Wood
and Giuseppe Viale
Breast Cancer Research
Breast Cancer Research is an international, peer-reviewed online journal,
publishing original research, reviews, commentaries and reports. Research
articles of exceptional interest are published in all areas of biology and
medicine relevant to breast cancer, including normal mammary gland
biology, with special emphasis on the genetic, biochemical, and cellular
basis of breast cancer. In addition, the journal publishes clinical
studies with a biological basis, including Phase I and Phase II trials.
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust was the first hospital in the world
dedicated to cancer treatment and research into the causes of cancer.
Today the hospital with its academic partner, The Institute of Cancer
Research, forms the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe with
over 40,000 patients from the UK and abroad seen each year. It provides
inpatient, day care and outpatient services for all areas of cancer
treatment.
The hospital received the highest possible ranking of double excellent in
the Healthcare Commission's Annual Health Check 2007, the only hospital in
the country to do so for two years in a row.
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