NCI Teleconference Discusses Global ALTTO

Breast Cancer Clinical Trial to Treat Aggressive Form of Disease

A teleconference, sponsored by NCI’s Office of Advocacy Relations (OAR), on the Adjuvant Lapatinib and/or Trastuzumab Treatment Optimization (ALTTO) Breast Cancer Trial, is available in a replay format. To listen to the entire teleconference, dial toll-free within the U.S., 1-866-418-1750, through July 27, 2008.

Hear Dr. Edith Perez, ALTTO Principal Investigator and an oncologist in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fl.; Dr. Jo Anne Zujewski, Senior Investigator in the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program; and Ms. Judy Perotti, member of the NCCTG Patient Advocacy Committee and NCCTG Breast Steering Committee.

The ALTTO study is a global effort in which 8,000 participants in 50 countries across six continents will participate in a clinical trial that aims to test the effectiveness of two agents (trastuzumab and lapatinib) for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. ALTTO will yield the first comparison of these two drugs in the earliest, most treatable stages of breast cancer.

Two large, academic breast cancer research networks, The Breast Cancer Intergroup of North America (TBCI) and the Breast International Group (GIP), have collaborated to develop this study. The ALTTO study sets itself apart from others in that all care and data collection will be standardized regardless of where the patient is treated, the collection of biological materials will occur as the trial is being conducted, and an emphasis on translational research is central to the study.

For more information, please read “New Study of Targeted Therapies for Breast Cancer Establishes Model for Global Clinical Trials Clinical Trial,” at: http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/ALTTO.