ad to better outcomes for a specific population of breast cancer patients. The multi-center study, involving approximately 20 sites in the United States and Canada, will look at eribulin, a new drug, as a potential treatment for locally advanced HER2-negative breast cancer.
“The study drug eribulin is already approved and proven effective for treating patients with advanced breast cancer who haven’t benefitted from standard therapies,” Dr. Abraham, the national protocol chair of the NSABP research study, said. “This new research study will determine whether eribulin could also benefit patients whose breast cancer has spread beyond the breast to surrounding tissue but is not yet metastatic.”
The primary aim of the study is to assess how patient’s tumors respond to eribulin compared to taxol, the current standard of care.
Abraham is also medical director of the Cancer Service Line at the Cancer Center, chief of the WVU Section of Hematology and Oncology and a member of the NSABP’s breast cancer working committee.
The NSABP is one of the largest and most respected breast cancer research groups in the world with more than 50 years of clinical trial experience leading to changes in the way breast cancer is treated and prevented. The group’s studies led to the establishment of lumpectomy plus radiation over radical mastectomy as the standard surgical treatment for breast cancer. Large-scale NSABP studies in the prevention of breast cancer have also demonstrated the value of the drug tamoxifen in reducing the incidence of breast cancer in women with increased risk for the disease.
“I’m excited about this NSABP research study on eribulin because it may lead to another promising treatment option for these breast cancer patients,” he said. “And, I am very proud to be part of this very eminent group of clinical researchers.”
