Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/85232
THE ANZBCTG IMPACT ADVOCATE PROGRAM WORDS BY: ANNA FITZGERALD More than 13,500 women have participated in breast cancer clinical trials conducted by the Australia and New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZBCTG), since the Group first began more than 30 years ago. Many do so because they want to help improve treatment and prevention options best prevention Education is the for future generations of women, and to contribute to scientific research that ultimately can cure every person diagnosed with breast cancer. Participants in clinical trials receive a high standard of care and follow-up, and may often receive a new treatment before it is widely available to cancer patients generally. The treatments offered on a clinical trial are either the best current standard treatment or thought to be as good as or better than the current standard treatment. Clinical trials research conducted by ANZBCTG researchers, and the participation of thousands of women in these vitally important studies, has made a significant contribution to the 27% drop in breast cancer deaths over the last 20 years. But there are many important research questions still to be answered to ensure that every woman diagnosed with breast cancer can be cured long-term. The ANZBCTG is Australia's and New Zealand's largest independent organisation dedicated entirely to breast cancer clinical trials research. It conducts a clinical trials research program for the treatment of all stages of breast cancer and for the prevention of breast cancer. The research program involves multicentre clinical trials and collaboration with 78 institutions and over 600 researchers throughout Australia and New Zealand. The ANZBCTG conducts primarily phase three clinical trials, which is the final test for safety and efficacy of new treatment and prevention strategies before they are translated into current best-practice in the treatment of women with breast cancer and those at high risk. New Zealand Institutions involved in this research include: North Shore Hospital, Auckland City Hospital, Waikato Hospital, Palmerston North Hospital, Wellington Hospital, Christchurch Hospital and Dunedin Hospital. To keep women and the general community informed about the progress of clinical trials and the ANZBCTG's research, the Group initiated the IMPACT Program in 2002. IMPACT - Improving Participation and Advocacy for Clinical Trials – is open to women who have participated in an ANZBCTG clinical trial and also to members of the community who have an interest in keeping up to date with breast cancer clinical trials research. IMPACT aims to provide its members with reliable information so that they may become effective advocates for breast cancer clinical trials research in the wider community. It is hoped that this will in turn lead to increased participation in breast cancer clinical trials and thus faster progress in research for the benefit of all women. For further information about IMPACT, visit www.anzbctg.org