Breast Cancer Trials

Endocrine Therapy or hormone therapy is treatment that tries to block or reduce circulating estrogens, which is what drives majority of breast cancers. Dr Belinda Yeo is a Medical Oncologist at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, who is researching the level of therapy that breast cancer patients require, to minimise toxicity in treatment. She was a guest speaker at the 2022 Breast Cancer Trials Annual Scientific Meeting, and we asked Dr Yeo to explain her research project on Endocrine Therapy.

Associate Professor Lesley Stafford is a clinical psychologist in psycho-oncology and women's health, with a specific interest in women with or at risk of breast cancer. She consults in the Breast Service and Familial Cancer Centre at the Royal Melbourne Hospital as well as in private practice, and is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Shom Goel is a clinician-scientist at the University of Melbourne and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, with a strong interest in Translational Breast Cancer Research. He was a guest speaker at the 2022 Breast Cancer Trials Annual Scientific Meeting and we asked Dr Goel to explain his research in CDK4/6 inhibitors and where research is going in the future.

Finding My Way is an online coping program for individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer. The program is designed to support people through their cancer diagnosis, as well as help to provide strategies to live well despite this diagnosis. We talk with Associate Professor Lisa Beatty as she explains what 'Finding My Way' is and how it was initiated.

As part of a Clinical Fellowship project with Breast Cancer Trials, Dr Christine Muttiah is aiming to assist in the clinical conduct of the BRCA-P study in the hopes to increase recruitment across all 14 Breast Cancer Trials BRCA-P sites. We asked Dr Muttiah to provide an overview of this project and its aims.

As part of a Clinical Fellowship project with Breast Cancer Trials, Dr Elizabeth Blackley is working on a study that involves the collection of data and the development of a registry on breast cancer incidents, treatment outcomes and quality of life metrics in young Australian women. The aim is to help form a streamlined model of care for young women and offer various support services to help them through their diagnosis.

Dr Elizabeth Blackley is working on a study that involves the collection of data and the development of a registry on breast cancer incidence, treatment, outcomes, and quality of life metrics in young Australian women. The aim is to help form a streamlined model of care for young women and support services, such as genetic counselling, psychosocial support, fertility specialist consultation, survivorship, premature menopause, and sexual health clinics.

Dr Christine Muttiah is aiming to assist in the clinical conduct of the BRCA-P study and is focusing on strategic communication and leadership to enable sites to develop and establish recruitment pathways through familial cancer and risk management clinics; in the hopes to increase recruitment across all 14 Breast Cancer Trials BRCA-P sites.

While there is no way to prevent breast cancer, there are steps that can be taken to lower one's risk of being diagnosed, particularly for women with a strong family history or those who carry a gene mutation. Dr Wanda Cui is a Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and is researching into breast cancer prevention within the risk management clinic. We asked Dr Cui to explain her research on Breast Cancer Prevention.

Professor Prue Francis is a Medical Oncologist and the Clinical Head of Breast Medical Oncology at the Perter McCallum Cancer Centre. Professor Francis is researching into Metastatic breast cancer, asking the question: Does Detecting Metastatic Disease Early Make a Difference? We asked Professor Francis to explain her research on this topic.