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The Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium Q&A with Nancy Davidson, MD

BCRF recently asked BCRF Medical Advisory Board member Nancy Davidson, MD, to explain the exciting work of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium, which BCRF has supported generously since TBCRC's conception in 2005. Dr. Davidson, Professor and Breast Cancer Research Chair at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, played a pivotal role in the founding and organization of TBCRC.

Q. Can you explain a bit about the rationale behind the Consortium and what its purpose is? We understand that it came into being in 2005 with initial funding from BCRF.

A. The Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC) was created in 2005 and now comprises clinical trialists, translational scientists, and patient advocates from 14 academic medical centers dedicated to innovative, high impact and biologically-driven clinical research. The overarching mission of the Consortium is to lessen the burden of breast cancer by using a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to improve the understanding of breast cancer biology and test new therapeutic strategies.

The Consortium will conduct clinical trials in the pre-operative, pre-surgical, metastatic, and preventive settings. TBCRC members work together closely to speed completion of clinical trials, share biologic specimens and clinical data, and identify new areas for research. The successful development of improved prevention and treatment strategies requires the expertise of a collaborative group of clinical and translational scientists. The TBCRC is conducting trials that are too big for a single institution to do on its own but too small and too demanding for larger trial groups like the national cooperative groups.

Q. How is TBCRC advancing BCRF's mission of 'prevention and a cure in our lifetime?' Can you give us one or two specific examples of activities?

A. The paradigms of clinical research in breast cancer are changing. Breast cancer is now recognized as a collection of quite different malignancies, with very different behaviors, genetic profiles and responses to therapy. As an example, the TBCRC has already enrolled approximately 60 patients in a trial led by BCRF grantee Lisa Carey, MD, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that is testing a new treatment exclusively for patients with 'triple-negative' breast cancers that are not amenable to therapy with drugs that target the estrogen receptor or the HER2 receptor. The group has approved six additional trials that are in varying phases of development. When fully mature the TBCRC expects to be cooperating to perform five to ten clinical trials enrolling patients at any given time.

Q. Who will benefit from the work of TBCRC?

A. All people who have breast cancer or who are at risk for breast cancer will benefit from the work of the TBCRC. In the past, clinical researchers from different institutions have come together on an informal and ad hoc basis to conduct these types of specialized collaborative clinical trials. These affiliations were not coordinated nor prospectively planned; rather they were largely opportunistic. The TBCRC is establishing a framework to simplify the process of proposing trials, performing tissue-based research and to obtain funding for our distributed network. This will enable the timely and successful completion of increasingly complex trials whose ultimate goal is to improve the care of women at high risk and patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

Q. How has BCRF advanced TBCRC's activities? What could we be doing better?

A. The BCRF provided the founding gift for the TBCRC and has been a consistent and generous supporter. BCRF funds provide essential support to TBCRC to fulfill its overall infrastructure needs and provide core resources at each of the 14 sites to support the key members of the research team. The BCRF support is also invaluable symbol of the importance of rallying around the need for high risk-high impact clinical and translational research at time when medical advancements are palpable and medical research funding is jeopardized at so many levels.