Research - clinical trials for secondary breast cancer

Trials that are carried out on patients are known as clinical trials. These may be carried out to:

• test new treatments, such as new chemotherapy drugs, gene therapy or cancer vaccines
• look at new combinations of existing treatments, or change the way they are given, to make them more effective or reduce side effects
• compare the effectiveness of drugs used to control symptoms
• find out how cancer treatments work
• find out which treatments are the most cost-effective.

Trials are the only reliable way to find out if a different type of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or other treatment is better than what is already available.

Taking part in a trial

You may be asked to take part in a treatment research trial, and there can be many benefits in doing this. Trials help to improve knowledge about cancer and develop new treatments.

You will be carefully monitored during and after the study. Usually, several hospitals around the country take part in these trials. It’s important to bear in mind that some treatments which look promising at first are often later found to be less effective than existing treatments, or to have side effects that outweigh the benefits.

If you decide not to take part in a trial your decision will be respected and you do not have to give a reason. There will be no change in the way you are treated by the hospital staff and you’ll be offered the standard treatment for your situation.  

Blood and tumour samples

Many blood samples and possibly tumour biopsies may be taken to help make the right diagnosis. You may be asked for your permission to use some of your samples for research into cancer. If you take part in a trial you may also give other samples, which may be frozen and stored for future use when new research techniques become available. Your name will be removed from the samples so you can’t be identified.

The research may be carried out at the hospital where you are treated, or at another one. This type of research takes a long time, and results may not be available for many years. The samples will be used to increase knowledge about the causes of cancer and its treatment, which will hopefully improve the outlook for future patients.

Current research

The Victoria trial is trying to find out if a new chemotherapy| drug called vinflunine given with gemcitabine| is as effective as paclitaxel and gemcitabine| in the treatment of secondary breast cancer. Another trial is trying to find out if capecitabine and vinflunine is better than capecitabine alone.

Some trials are looking at biological| or targeted therapies in combination with hormonal therapies| or chemotherapy. These trials are looking at a targeted therapy called everolimus given with chemotherapy or with the hormonal drug exemestane|. Exemestane is also being given in combination with another targeted therapy called dasatinib.

The SOFEA trial is trying to find out which hormonal therapy works best in breast cancer that has come back after treatment with tamoxifen| or anastrozole|.