I am very excited about this new prospective study of male breast cancer that was just announced.
As the press release (below) states:
“The second part of this Program, which is now open, is a prospective international registry of all male breast cancer patients treated at the participating institutions for a period of 30 months with collection of clinical data. It will evaluate the number of patients it is feasible to recruit for a future clinical trial; describe patterns of care; and assess sample collection rate. An optional Quality of Life sub study is also being planned and will use the EORTC QLQ-30 questionaire and items from the BR-23 and PR-25 questionaires. This program has generated worldwide interest, and additional countries and academic groups are expected to join this international effort.”
Already participating are institutions from Belgium, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom. I hope more join – we need men from all areas of the globe.
I was honored to be asked to comment on this work as a patient. Here is what I said:
“As a man with breast cancer and care-giver to my wife when she had breast cancer, I have seen firsthand that the identical treatment we received is effective. But as a cancer biologist I cannot help but think that more research on the differences is also needed. The groundbreaking work of Dr. Cardoso, Dr. Giordano and their colleagues around the world will provide important insights to this question.”
I want to also personally thank the lead investigators, Dr. Fatima Cardoso of the Champalimaud Cancer Center in Lisbon and Dr. Sharon Giordano of the MD Anderson Cancer Center (disclosure: where I work and receive my cancer care).
You can read the press release here:
Entering a World of Pink 