INNOVATIVE BREAST CANCER CLINICAL TRIALS RECEIVE NHMRC GRANT SUPPORT

Three innovative breast cancer clinical trials have received more than $4.8 million in funding in the latest round of the 2015 National Health and Medical Research Council grants.

A total of $630 million for over 800 projects have been announced this week by the Federal Government to support Australian research projects.

Chair of the ANZBCTG, Professor Stephen Ackland, said he welcomed funding for this important research and the potential to find new and improved treatments for women at risk or diagnosed with breast cancer.

“On behalf of the ANZBCTG, I congratulate Associate Professor Boon Chua and Associate Professor Prue Francis on these wonderful grant announcements. Australian breast cancer researchers are among the best in the world and continue to seek ways to improve current treatments available to women and ultimately a cure,” Professor Ackland said.

“This funding also demonstrates the high regard for the ANZBCTG’s breast cancer clinical trials research program, which has played a leading role in the reduction of breast cancer mortality rates in Australia, as a consequence of quality research outcomes over the last 20 years.”

The ANZBCTG is Australia’s national organisation dedicated entirely to breast cancer clinical trials research. It conducts a national clinical trials research program for the treatment, prevention and cure of breast cancer. The research program involves multicentre clinical trials and collaboration with 87 institutions and over 700 researchers throughout Australia and New Zealand. More than 14,000 women have participated in ANZBCTG breast cancer clinical trials. The ANZBCTG’s fundraising department is the Breast Cancer Institute of Australia.

For further information about the ANZBCTG and the Group’s clinical trials research program, visit www.breastcancertrials.org.au.

Media contact: Anna Fitzgerald, ANZBCTG Communications Manager

Phone: 02 4925 5255 or 0400 304 224 or Email: anna.fitzgerald@anzbctg.org

Three breast cancer clinical trials, which will be coordinated in Australia and New Zealand by the Australia and New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZBCTG), have been awarded NHMRC support:

• One clinical trial, titled ‘Personalised radiotherapy for low-risk early breast cancer’, aims to identify which breast cancer patients may be able to avoid radiotherapy after surgery and as a result, the side-effects of this treatment. This study will receive $4,087,188 in NHMRC funding and will be led by Associate Professor Boon Chua who is a member of the ANZBCTG’s Scientific Advisory Committee. This Australian designed study will open to patient recruitment internationally and the ANZBCTG’s Australian offices will be the lead coordinating group – a first for the ANZBCTG.
• Initial results of the SOFT and TEXT clinical trials found that the aromatase inhibitor, exemestane, is more effective than tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer from returning in young women who also receive ovarian function suppression. $722,380 has been awarded in NHMRC funding to follow-up women who participated in these trials, to show if overall survival can be improved. The ANZBCTG Study Chair for this clinical trial is Associate Professor Prue Francis, who is the Deputy Chair of the ANZBCTG’s Scientific Advisory Committee.