Improving breast cancer treatment through clinical trials

Clinical trials and research studies involving patients with breast
cancer provide vital information on new treatments that may someday give physicians additional ammunition to fight the disease, not only for current patients, but for their daughters and granddaughters.

Much of what is used successfully today to treat breast cancer is the result of clinical trials conducted in the past. The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), located on the Allegheny General Hospital campus, is an internationally renowned clinical trials research group supported primarily through grants from the National Cancer Institute that has designed and conducted clinical trials for nearly 50 years

that have changed the standard of treatment in breast and colorectal cancer.

The NSABP pioneered breast cancer studies that have led to the
establishment of lumpectomy plus radiation over radical mastectomy as
the standard surgical treatment of breast cancer. The NSABP was also the
first to demonstrate that adjuvant therapy (treatment in addition to
surgery) could alter the natural history of breast cancer, increasing
survival rates, and demonstrating on a large scale the preventive
effects of the drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene in reducing the rates of
invasive breast cancer.

The NSABP Pathology Laboratory, also located on the AGH campus, serves
as a central repository of the nation's largest breast and colorectal
tumor tissue bank. For nearly 50 years, more than 65,000 breast and
colorectal tumor tissue specimens have been collected from patients
enrolled in NSABP clinical trials; each year about 3,000-4,000 specimens
are added to the bank. Heralded by the National Cancer Institute as a
"national treasure," the NSABP Tumor Bank, through tests conducted at
the NSABP Pathology Laboratory, has contributed significantly to the
development of individualized therapies to treat breast and colorectal
cancer.

Patients diagnosed with breast cancer at Allegheny General may be
eligible to participate in one of the current NSABP research programs.

These clinical trials compare a standard established treatment, one
that is currently agreed upon by experts as the best available to a
treatment that may be the next medical advance in breast cancer.

For NSABP clinical trials, please call the Protocol Office at 1-877-244-2221.  For NCI clinical trials, please call 1-800-4-CANCER

Female Reproductive Cancer Patients at West Penn Hospital Gain Local Access to National Clinical Trials

October 14, 2009

PITTSBURGH - The West Penn Allegheny Health System, Division of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has established an affiliation with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a Parent institution in the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG). 

The affiliation gives female reproductive cancer patients at West Penn Hospital local access to some of the national clinical trials sponsored by the GOG.

The GOG receives support from the National Cancer Institute to promote excellence in research in the field of gynecologic malignancies by maintaining the highest standards in clinical trial development and execution.

“We are pleased to be able to offer these cutting edge clinical trials to our patients,” said Dr John Comerci, Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West Penn Allegheny Health System, and principal investigator for the GOG. “Our selection as an affiliate of The Cleveland Clinic speaks to the quality of care delivered to patients treated within the West Penn Allegheny Health System (WPAHS),” added Dr Comerci.

The first trials at WPAHS are expected to begin this fall and involve Avastin, an antiangiogenic agent active in ovarian cancer, as well as a trial investigating intraperitoneal carboplatin and Taxol in the treatment of ovarian carcinoma.

The West Penn Allegheny Health System, Division of Gynecologic Oncology is dedicated to bringing gynecologic oncology services and access to state of the art clinical trials to the community with offices in Sharon, Johnstown, Upper St Clair, Canonsburg and Monroeville.

For additional information, contact the West Penn Hospital Division of Gynecological Oncology at 412-578-5534.

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