Two British charities are joining to initiate the first U.K.-based clinical trial for women with a specific aggressive form of breast cancer.
Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Cancer Research U.K. said the "Triple-Negative Trial" aims to improve breast cancer treatment for women with hormone and HER2 negative tumors, sometimes referred to as triple negative because they lack hormone (oestrogen and progesterone) and HER2 receptors. Such cancers are more common among younger women and those of African ethnicity.
More than 44,000 U.K. women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, with triple negative tumors accounting for between 15 percent and 20 percent of them. Triple negative tumors do not respond to targeted treatments such as tamoxifen. The new clinical trial is designed to develop a more tailored and effective chemotherapy treatment for such cancers.
The five-year trial will be led by Dr. Andrew Tutt, director of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at King's College London.
Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Cancer Research U.K. are jointly funding the trial with Britain's Institute of Cancer Research and King's College London.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
