Fall Health Care Provider Updates

Dear Voornaam,

Read below for important updates for our health care provider subscribers.

Survey For Investigators on Engaging Patients in Research

FORCE and researchers at the University of South Florida are conducting a survey to assess researchers’ attitudes and practices related to patient engagement in research. Results will be used to develop and refine tools to increase patient engagement in research. 

Take Our Survey

Did You See the Headlines About Breast Cancer? Your Patients Did!

FORCE’s XRAY Program looks behind the headlines to help patients understand breast cancer news. We have recently added XRAY:MBC, which looks behind the headlines on metastatic breast cancer news and information. Below are some of our recent XRAY reviews. #helpnothype

• Supportive care can improve quality of life for people with metastatic breast cancer
• FDA issues warning on CDK inhibitors
• Running marathons with metastatic breast cancer? Yes!
• Is it safe for BRCA mutation carriers to become pregnant after breast cancer?
• MRI or mammograms for detecting breast cancer in families with unknown genetic mutations?

View or Search All XRAY Reviews

New Navigation Portals Provide Resources for Your Patients

We have created new portals with links to the most requested information, research, support and resources and more. 

• Metastatic Prostate Cancer
• Metastatic Breast Cancer
• Pancreatic Cancer
• High Risk Women

Research from FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered and our collaborators at Stanford published an article in the Journal of Oncology Practice®highlighting the gaps in what clinicians tell breast cancer patients about genetic testing.

Read Our Publication

What are the implications of germline testing after diagnosis for cancer patients?  Read our recent article published in Evidence-Based Oncology. 

Read Our Publication

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines determine which preventive services are available at no cost-sharing under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Task Force recently released new genetic testing recommendations that slightly expand the population eligible for BRCA counseling and testing. Find out what this means for you and your family members.

Read More

FORCE has tools to help increase patient engagement in all aspects of the research cycle, including increasing patient enrollment in hereditary cancer research.  We work individually with study teams to help them reach their patient engagement goals. Please complete the request form in the link below if you are interested in collaborating with FORCE.

Complete Our Research Collaboration Request Form 

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Joining FORCEs Against Hereditary Cancer® Conference. It's happening June 18th-20th, 2020, in Philadelphia, PA. Registration will open in December.

Learn More

Help accelerate research by referring your patients to clinical trials

We are promoting studies recruiting HBOC patients.  Please share the studies listed below with your patients and visit our Featured Research Page for a list of other important research studies enrolling people affected by hereditary cancer.

The only way to continue to advance the safety and performance of breast implants is through research. The Motiva Implants® US clinical study is recruiting now for breast reconstruction (both primary and revision) participants. Visit the study link to learn more and participate. 

Learn More 

Are you a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carrier scheduled to have your fallopian tubes and ovaries removed? Learn about an opportunity to enroll in a clinical trial looking at the effects of denosumab on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus (for women getting a hysterectomy) of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Denosumab is an FDA-approved injectable medication that is used to treat osteoporosis and to prevent fractures in cancer patients with bone metastases. The eventual goal is to understand if denosumab may be used to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation 

Learn More

The GENERATE (GENetic Education Risk Assessment and Testing) Study offers genetic testing for people who have a close relative with pancreatic cancer that was caused by a mutation in a gene. Knowing about inherited risk helps families protect themselves against pancreatic and other cancers. Visit the study website to learn more and fill out the Eligibility Questionnaire.

Learn More About GENERATE

CALLING ALL MEN WITH A BRCA MUTATION, A LYNCH SYNDROME MUTATION or one of the other mutations listed below! The National Institutes of Health has a clinical trial for men at high genetic risk for prostate cancer. This is trial is for men without prostate cancer, ages 30 to 70, who have tested positive for Lynch syndrome (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, EPCAM) or BRCA1, BRCA2, HOXB13, ATM, NBN, TP53, CHEK2, PALB2, RAD51D, FANCA. The trial involves screening MRI of the prostate every two years and biopsy of the prostate if the MRI is abnormal. There is no cost for travel or study-related tests.

Learn More About the Study

This is a study for women or men who have been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer with a BRCA 1/2 mutation. The goal of this study is to look at whether giving the DNA damage repair inhibitor (PARP inhibitor) olaparib (Lynparza) in combination with the immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tecentriq) improves outcomes for patients compared to olaparib alone.  

Learn More About the Study

The Olaparib Expanded study is enrolling people with metastatic breast cancer who do not have an inherited BRCA mutation. The study is looking at olaparib to treat metastatic breast cancer in people with non-BRCA inherited mutations, such as PALB2, ATM, CHEK2, BRIP1 and others. The study is also open to people with BRCA or other mutations within their tumor.

Learn More About the Study

CheckMate-9KD is a clinical research study for men with metastatic prostate cancer (which means cancer that has spread) that no longer responds to treatments that lower testosterone. Visit the link below to learn more about the study.

Learn More About CheckMate-9K

The Metastatic Prostate Cancer Project is a nationwide genomic research study for men with advanced and/or metastatic prostate cancer. Patients can join online and participate by sharing their medical information and samples. The goal of the project is to generate a comprehensive database that will be shared with the entire research community to accelerate discoveries in prostate cancer. 

Learn More about the Study

If you have ever been diagnosed with Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal cancer and undergone chemotherapy, please consider participating in this Treatment Preferences Survey. Our goal is to learn about what is most important to patients when choosing cancer treatment, specifically, how patients feel about taking a break from treatment versus taking an additional medication.

Take the Survey

Did you know undergoing surgically or chemically induced menopause could put you at risk for cognitive difficulties? Our study seeks to determine the effectiveness of a stimulant drug called Vyvanse on the cognitive functioning of women who experience executive functioning difficulties following surgically induced menopause. For more information, please contact our team.

Learn More About IMPRES

The goal of this research study is to determine if online genetic education and testing with online telephone genetic counseling is an acceptable method of delivering genetic testing to men with metastatic prostate cancer.
 
This study involves undergoing genetic counseling and genetic testing for inherited cancer risk.
 

Learn More About the Study

ATHENA is a study for women who are newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer. ATHENA is looking at whether maintenance therapy with a PARP inhibitor and/or immunotherapy improves outcomes for women who have completed front-line ovarian cancer treatment.
 

Learn More About ATHENA

The Genetic Education for Men (GEM) study, is a clinical trial evaluating educational tools for men from families in which a BRCA1/2 gene mutation has been identified. In order to identify untested men from BRCA1/2 families, we are seeking women who have received positive BRCA1/2 test results and have at least one untested male relative

Learn More About the GEM Study

ARIEL4 is a treatment study for women with relapsed, high-grade epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.  ARIEL4 is designed to evaluate rucaparib against standard of care chemotherapy in women who have had at least two prior chemotherapy regimens.  Visit the ARIEL4 Study page for more information.

More Information on ARIEL4

The purpose of TRITON3 is to determine how patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and an inherited BRCA1, BRCA2, or ATM gene mutation or tumor genetic deficiency respond to treatment with the PARP inhibitor rucaparib (Rubraca) compared to treatment with physician's choice of abiraterone acetate, enzalutamide, or docetaxel.

More Information on TRITON3

BFOR is a research project led by experts in cancer genetics to study a new way to make genetic testing accessible. It offers BRCA testing at no cost to individuals age 25 or older, with at least one Ashkenazi Jewish grandparent, and who live in the Boston, New York, Los Angeles or Philadelphia metropolitan areas. 

Learn More About BFOR

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Project is a patient-partnered initiative that directly engages patients across the US & Canada to transform our understanding of metastatic breast cancer. Patients participate by sharing their medical information, tumor samples, and their voices. There is no cost to participate. A small effort can have a major impact. 

Learn More About the Study

This study is open to pre-menopausal women between 30-50 with a mutation in BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, PALB2, RAD51C, RAD51D, BARD1, MSH2, MSH6, MLH1, PMS2 or EPCAM.  Women choose to either have their fallopian tubes removed now and their ovaries later or to have their tubes and ovaries removed at the same time.  Outcomes are sexual function and quality of life between the women grouped by surgical procedure.  

Learn More About WISP

The MAGENTA study is open to women 30 years of age or older who may be at increased risk to develop ovarian cancer based on their personal or family history. Participants who qualify for this study will undergo genetic testing (using a saliva sample) for 19 genes associated with inherited cancer risk (including BRCA1 and BRCA2), and complete a series of online questionnaires regarding their experience. Some individuals in this study will undergo genetic counseling over the phone; others will not. Participation in this trial will not require any travel, but will require access to the internet and phone. 

Learn More About MAGENTA