Women at risk needed for cancer drug trials

Nov 14 2007 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

WOMEN in the North-East are being called on to take part in a breast cancer trial which aims to be the next step in eradicating the disease.

The Cancer Research UK trial, known as IBIS-2, is running at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Newcastle for women with an increased risk of developing the disease.

Each year nearly 2,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the North-East and 44,000 women are diagnosed with the disease in the UK.

IBIS-2 is the first trial ever to investigate whether a breast cancer treatment drug called anastrozole can prevent the disease in postmenopausal women at higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Previous research on the drug as a treatment for early breast cancer showed that it reduced the risk of developing another cancer in the other breast by over 50%.

But this will be the first time the drug is being investigated as a preventive measure for people with a family history of the disease.

Tom Lennard, Professor of Breast and Endocrine Surgery at Newcastle University and the Royal Victoria Infirmary, said: “This could be a step towards eradicating breast cancer.

“If we can find a way of preventing the disease in these women it may be applicable for everyone.”

The IBIS-2 trial started in the UK in 2004 and has been running in the North-East since September 2006.

The study is open to post-menopausal women who are aged between 40-70 years, are not on HRT, and have a family history of breast cancer or other risk factors such as certain types of non-cancerous breast lumps.

This includes women whose mother or sister had breast cancer or ovarian cancer by the age of 50 or under.

Prof Lennard said about 10% of the total population who get breast cancer carry a pre-disposition such as a faulty gene.

He said: “Women who decide to take part in this important study will be making an enormous contribution to breast cancer research, helping us to prevent breast cancer in future generations.”

The study will compare anastrozole with a placebo and look at how many women develop breast cancer as well as any side effects of the drug.

Although only half of the women on the study will receive anastrozole, all of the women will receive a bone scan, a mammogram and the best available care.

Researchers at Newcastle University are hoping women will come forward to take part.

Volunteers can find out more about the IBIS-2 study by calling the Cancer Research UK cancer information nurses on 0808 800-4040 (freephone) or by visiting www.ibis-trials.org

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Patricia wants to prevent history repeating itself

PATRICIA Hasler suffered the trauma of losing her mother to breast cancer.

Mary Ann Robinson, known as Maisie, from Washington, died aged 51 after battling the disease.

One year ago Patricia, a grandma-of-four from Wood Terrace in Jarrow, South Tyneside, joined the Ibis-2 trial to prevent history repeating itself.

The 61-year-old hopes that by taking part she will help to stop other women from developing the disease.

“It was terrible seeing my mother go through having cancer. It was awful for the whole family.

“I was thinking about my children and grand children. I want to be here for as long as I can to see them grow up.

“I thought I could prevent myself getting it but also these trials help other people in the end which is the main reason for having them.”

Patricia works as a district nurse for South Tyneside Primary Care Trust and has seen too many times how the disease affects women.

“In my role as a district nurse I see a lot of patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I’ve signed up to the IBIS-2 trial because I want to help with research to prevent women developing the disease in the future.” Patricia joined the trial a year ago after she received a leaflet about it from Cancer Research UK. She attended Newcastle’s RVI every six months for the first year and now just makes an annual trip.

She urges women to join in, saying: “We need as many people as possible for the trial to make the results valid. It really isn’t very much effort on our part to participate.”