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New Advances in Breast Cancer Treatment Fueled By BCRF Support

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 18:00 CDT

At the May 2005 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, three important new advances in breast cancer treatment that were presented were made possible by research funds from The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. BCRF's multi-year support of these studies validates the claim that its Medical Advisory Board identifies the very best new ideas and provides financial support at the earliest stages, bringing the findings to the forefront to advance breast health. According to Larry Norton, MD, Scientific Director, "No other lay/advocacy organization can make the claim for such productive involvement in cutting-edge research." BCRF is the only private funder to have supported all three studies.

Two announcements represent advances in targeted therapies - drugs that attack tumors directly, often without the side effects of normal chemotherapy. The third represents a lifestyle recommendation that is shown to decrease the chances of cancer recurrence.

-- A large, multi-center study over five years led by Mayo Clinic medical oncologist Edith Perez, MD, gave important new data about the effectiveness and safety of a breast cancer treatment combining chemotherapy and a drug called trastuzumab (Herceptin) for patients with HER-2 positive breast cancer, an aggressive type of early-stage, operable disease found in 25 to 30 percent of breast cancers. Data from this and from another large trial showed that women who received Herceptin in combination with chemotherapy had a 52 percent decrease in risk for breast cancer recurrence and a 33 percent decrease in risk of death compared with women who received the chemotherapy alone.

BCRF has supported Dr. Perez's research since 1999 for her participation in this trial. "This is a major advance for many thousands of women with breast cancer," said National Cancer Institute Director Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD. "These results are one more example that we are at a major turning point in the use of targeted therapies to eliminate suffering and death from cancer."

-- A second trial investigated the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol) chemotherapy in patients who had not yet received treatment for their breast cancer which had spread to other parts of the body, and showed that Avastin in combination with Taxol is effective in slowing the progress of untreated recurrent or metastasized breast tumors. Avastin targets tumors through an anti-angiogenic effect, by starving them of the blood they need to grow.

"This study is the first to find a benefit of anti-angiogenic therapy in patients with breast cancer and represents a major advance in the treatment of patients with metastatic disease," noted study chair Dr. Kathy D. Miller of Indiana University Medical Center. Dr. George Sledge states that the outcome is "really and truly a BCRF-based success story that I believe will have a profound effect for years to come on breast cancer therapy. I am personally really grateful for the support BCRF offered at a crucial point in the drug's development." BCRF has funded the work of Dr. Miller since 2002 and the anti-angiogenesis research of Dr. George Sledge, professor at Indiana University Medical Center, since 1999. In addition, BCRF has supported the research of Dr. Judah Folkman of Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School since he was awarded the Foundation's Jill Rose Award for distinguished scientific achievement in 1997. Dr. Folkman was the first to pioneer the theory that tumors can be eliminated by cutting off their blood supply, the science that was the basis for the development of Avastin.

-- A third presentation at the ASCO meeting was based on the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS), an NCI- and BCRF-supported clinical trial of over 2,400 women. WINS evaluated the effect of a low-fat diet on breast cancer recurrence and survival. Results showed that eating a low-fat diet reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence by 20 percent over five years in post-menopausal women compared with women following a standard diet. This was the first randomized clinical study showing that diet can impact breast or any other cancer. BCRF grants over six years supported WINS researchers based at the Institute for Cancer Prevention. In a front-page story in The New York Times (May 17, 2005), Dr.Larry Norton said he has changed his advice to women on the basis of the WINS results. "Before this I was saying there's no reason not to eat a low-fat diet. Now I am saying there is a reason to eat a low-fat diet."

THE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION was founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder as an independent, not-for-profit 501(c) (3) organization dedicated to funding innovative clinical and genetic research. The Foundation supports scientists at leading medical centers worldwide whose research is focused on achieving prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime. A minimum of 85 cents of each dollar donated to the Foundation goes directly to breast cancer research and awareness programs. Over $18 million was awarded to the 2004-2005 grantees - 97 researchers across the U.S. and in Belgium, Canada, France, Israel, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In December 2004, Money magazine named BCRF one of America's eight top charities. The Foundation has raised more than $115 million since inception. BCRF has received the highest rating from Charity Navigator, four stars, for four consecutive years, which means it has outperformed most other charities in America in efficiently managing its finances. For more information, visit www.bcrfcure.org or call 1.866.FIND.A.CURE.

Source: Business Wire

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