Testicular Cancer Research Highlights by Dr Ben Tran, Medical Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. ANZUP Germ Cell Subcommittee Chair.
Testicular cancer is now highly curable, but that wasn’t always the case. Up until the late 1970s, testicular cancer was a very aggressive disease with a very poor prognosis. However, the development of cisplatin based BEN TRAN, ANZUP GERM chemotherapy, tested in CELL SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR clinical trials, changed the face of testicular cancer, from a devastating disease in young men, to a highly curable disease. Although testicular cancer patients now have mainly excellent outcomes, we can still do better. This is why ANZUP is involved in clinical trials in testicular cancer through its clinical trials program. ANZUP has subcommittees for each of its diseases, which includes the Germ Cell (Testicular Cancer) Subcommittee. The subcommittee has had a very productive year with trials ongoing as well as studies in the pipeline and the presentation of promising concepts that could lead to future trials.
Some highlights include the following: TIGER Trial This study aims to demonstrate how well standard-dose combination chemotherapy works compared to highdose combination chemotherapy in treating patients with germ cell tumours where the cancer persists after a first round of chemotherapy. This trial is now open at 4 sites in Australia, with recruitment at 9 out of 60 patients. This study also aims to recruit 420 patients internationally.
iTestis Database iTestis is a user-friendly, multi-disciplinary, web-based testicular cancer database. Data collected within iTestis will provide better understanding of treatment patterns in Australia and identify how treatments for Australian patients can be improved. iTestis also has the capacity to be linked to tumour tissue from individual patients and through this linkage, there will be scope to answer some of the biological research questions that might lead to new treatment approaches. iTestis is continuing to expand, opening at multiple sites across the country,and gaining interest from cancer centres in other parts of the globe.
DR ROB HAMILTON, DR BEN TRAN AND DR FRITHA HANNING DISCUSSING ANZUP TRIALS - WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR OUR TRIALS, AT THE ANZUP ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING.
42 A LITTLE BELOW THE BELT
