Breast cancer study looks at targeted treatment of metastatic tumors
October 28, 2009
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Oct. 23, 2009) – Scottsdale Healthcare’s Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center is the site of a new clinical trial sponsored by the Side-Out Foundation and its Dig Pink® Volleyball Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. The study will examine the effects of personalized treatment on patients with metastatic breast cancer.
The Side-Out trial protocol will bring together the diverse skills and unique experience of community oncologists, nurses and researchers in the field molecular medicine.
The Phase II study will use molecular profiling to tailor therapy for each patient based on the tumor itself. Intended to provide real time treatment recommendations to physicians, this metastatic breast cancer trial will be conducted over the next 24 months.
Nurse Practitioner Gayle Jameson, NP is the local principal investigator for the trial, which expects to enroll a total of 25 patients across two participating sites. Jameson is a researcher with TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS) at Scottsdale Healthcare, TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS) at Scottsdale Healthcare, a partnership between TGen and Scottsdale Healthcare.
Researchers will use advanced molecular profiling technologies to focus on tailoring therapy for each patient based on the individual genomic and proteomic molecular portrait within the tumor. The patient would then be treated with a single agent based on the aggregate information provided by the molecular profiling analyses.
The Side-Out breast cancer study is a follow-up to the promising Bisgrove Study clinical trial conducted through TCRS in Scottsdale Healthcare’s Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center, which indicated cancer patients can survive longer under treatments based on their individual genetic profiles.
Results of the Bisgrove Study showed that molecular profiling can identify specific treatments for individuals, helping keep their cancer in check for significantly longer periods, and in some cases even shrinking tumors. A majority of patients in that trial were seen at Scottsdale Healthcare’s Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center. Bisgrove Study findings were presented in April 2009 at the 100th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Denver.
Clinical trials for the Side-Out study will occur at TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS) at Scottsdale Healthcare and Fairfax Northern Virginia Hematology – Oncology. TGen Drug Development Services (TD2) will manage the trial for the Side-Out Foundation. The two major contributing laboratories are CARIS Diagnostics, and George Mason University’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine.
Located in the Debi and Jerry Bisgrove Research Pavilion of Scottsdale Healthcare’s Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center, TCRS is a partnership of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare. The partnership allows molecular and genomic discoveries made by TGen and others around the world to reach the patient bedside in the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare as quickly as possible through clinical trials with agents directed at specific targets in patients’ tumors.
The Side-Out Foundation was established in 2004 by a group of individuals drawn together by their love of volleyball, but who also share a similar passion to be a part of the war against breast cancer. Side-Out’s mission is to raise money for the war against breast cancer through the sport of volleyball.
Patients who seeking information about clinical trials may contact patient care coordinator Joyce Ingold, RN, at 480-323-1339, toll free at 1-877-273-3713 or at [email protected].