Summer Healthcare Professional Updates

Dear Voornaam,

Read below for important updates for our healthcare professional subscribers.

Survey for genetic counselors, oncology nurse navigators, social workers, peer advocates, peer navigators or volunteers who work with breast cancer patients!

Calling healthcare professionals and peer volunteers who work with breast cancer patients! Please help FORCE by taking this short survey (less than 15 minutes) about digital health literacy and resources for patients.

• Survey for genetic counselors
• Survey for oncology nurse navigators
• Survey for community health workers, social workers, volunteers, peer navigators and advocates

Below we highlight three continuing education opportunities:


 

• Management of metastatic breast cancer. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is presenting an educational program to help health care professionals stay up-to-date on available treatment options for patients with metastatic breast cancer. Updates from the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) will be discussed. This course is free and available online until 3/15/2021.
• 7th Annual Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance Conference. The annual Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance Conference highlights ongoing research on metastatic breast cancer. The 2020 conference will be virtual and registration is free. This two-day conference will be held September 10-11, 2020. 
• Understanding early onset breast cancer. This activity is for primary care providers, obstetricians/gynecologists and nurses. The goal is to provide clinicians with expert insight on the risk factors for breast and ovarian cancer and optimal approaches for screening and care in younger women. Registration may be required, but the module is free.

PARP inhibitors in the news!
 

The FDA has recently approved new indications for PARP inhibitors for breast, ovarian and metastatic prostate cancer. Read our XRAY-Behind the cancer headlines reviews about these latest approvals here.
 

Promising new research suggests the PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, may benefit patients with metastatic breast cancer if they have an inherited PALB2 mutation or have a tumor with a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Read our 200th XRAY-Behind the cancer headlines review on this new research.

New FORCE portal has resources for healthcare providers and researchers

If you are a healthcare provider or researcher with a focus on hereditary cancer, our new portal page has links to continuing education opportunities, information on public policy issues, resources to share with patients and tools to help you engage more patients in your research.

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.

This study is looking at the effect of denosumab on breast density of premenopausal women who have dense breasts.  Denosumab is an FDA-approved medication for osteoporosis and to prevent fractures in cancer patients with bone metastases. This study could help identify new ways to prevent breast cancer in younger women.

The Penn Center for Women's Behavioral Wellness at the University of Pennsylvania wants to learn more about attention and memory in women across the lifespan.  We are currently looking for women between the ages of 35-65 to answer questions related to women's heath, cognition, and mood.  This survey is open to women at any stage of their menstrual life cycle, including pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women and anything in-between!  This survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and at the end, you will have the opportunity to register to win a $100 MasterCard gift card.  For every 200 people that complete the survey, we will randomly select one person to receive a $100 MasterCard gift card.

Learn more about this study

Did you receive an unexpected genetic test result related to cancer risk? A new study is recruiting people who had genetic testing done for some other reason and received results related to their cancer risks. The goal of this study is to learn what people think about, and how they use results like this.

Learn more about this study

University of Washington researchers are studying ways to help people with genetic disease risk find and talk to family members that have the same genetic mutations. In this study, researchers will help families connect with each other, talk about genetics, and encourage other relative to get genetic testing. The study team hopes to act as partners to help you find and connect with your relatives. With your help we want to make it easier for people like you to find where familial variants came from and prevent disease in everyone with the same risk variant.


Learn more about this study

Individuals with a past or current breast cancer diagnosis are invited to complete a brief survey about documents and materials that make patients feel most supported and help them make meaning from their illness; researchers want to understand how these effects are achieved in order to make recommendations to practitioners, community partners, and others about how best to support patients.


Take the survey

The LODESTAR study is evaluating the response of the PARP inhibitor rucaparib in people with advanced solid tumors (including breast, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and other cancers) who have an inherited or acquired mutation in any of the following genes: BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, RAD51C, RAD51D, BARD1, BRIP1, FANCA, NBN, RAD51 or RAD51B. 

Learn more about LODESTAR

The PALB2 Study is an international research study looking to recruit women with PALB2 mutations who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Research shows that PALB2 mutations increase the risk of developing breast cancer; however, it is not clear how to best treat or reduce the risk of breast cancer in women with PALB2 mutations. This research study collects information about breast cancer diagnosis and treatment using short questionnaires in order to learn more about breast cancer among women with a PALB2 mutation. This information will help to determine the best treatment for women with PALB2-associated breast cancer and determine which factors predict survival. Through a better understanding, we can personalize breast cancer treatment to increase survival and determine how to best manage at risk family members to detect cancer early or prevent it. For more information please email PALB2study@wchospital.ca.

Do you have a genetic mutation increasing your risk of cancer?  Help inform us how future research on lifestyle habits can better serve YOU!  Take a 20-minutes survey to learn about nutrition and exercise in relationship to hereditary cancer mutations.

Take the survey 

The Study of IMMray™ PanCan-d Test for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer in High-risk Groups is enrolling people who do not have pancreatic cancer, but have a higher risk of developing the disease. 

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

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

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

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