Prof Judith Bliss

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Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit
Institute of Cancer Research
London

Improving treatments for breast cancer patients

Professor Judith Bliss leads the Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit at the Institute of Cancer Research based in Sutton. Her team conducts clinical trials, which are vital for testing new ways of treating cancer. Professor Bliss is currently involved in a number of breast cancer trials, which aim to improve different aspects of breast cancer treatment.

Hormone therapy trials

One trial (ABC) has shown that, overall, women with early-stage breast cancer who are treated with chemotherapy and tamoxifen have a higher survival rate than women who receive only tamoxifen. But a combination of tamoxifen and ovarian suppression - treatment to stop the ovaries from functioning - was found to have no additional benefits.

Professor Bliss played a leading role in a study showing that switching to a drug called exemestane after 2 to 3 years treatment with tamoxifen improved outcomes for breast cancer patients with hormone-sensitive tumours. This study has influenced clinical practice worldwide in this group of patients.

Chemotherapy trials

Some of the trials are designed to test chemotherapy drugs in new settings. For example, the TACT2 trial is a large-scale study assessing the use of a drug called capecitabine to treat early stage breast cancer. It is also testing whether chemotherapy given more frequently over a shorter period of time makes it more effective.

Radiotherapy trials

A ten-year 'pilot' study that Professor Bliss was involved in showed that giving breast cancer patients fewer but larger doses of radiotherapy may be as safe and as effective at reducing the risk of cancer returning. A reduction in the number of radiotherapy doses could have important implications for patients, as reducing the number of hospital visits they would have to make would lessen their anxiety and save time and money.

Professor Bliss is now involved in the START radiotherapy trial - a larger follow-up study aimed at confirming these findings, and results of this study are expected shortly. Further studies of breast cancer radiotherapy are about to begin, which examine the benefits of new radiotherapy techniques that target the tumour more accurately.

Future work

Professor Bliss is planning a number of studies to look at ways of identifying biological markers in breast cancers that may predict which patients will benefit most from different types of treatment.

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