Clinical trials are research studies in which new treatments are tested against current standard treatments. They involve patients taking new drugs or undergoing new treatments to see whether these are effective in combating disease.

There are numerous breast cancer clinical trials currently underway throughout New Zealand and the rest of the world. These aim to identify new and more effective ways of treating breast cancer or ways of preventing it from occurring.

On this page you can find out more about how clinical trials work and the clinical trials that are currently underway in New Zealand. You can also find out more about current international research underway into breast cancer treatment.

• Research nurse, Jenni Scarlet answers your questions about clinical trials
  
  This includes information on the different types of clinical trials, the protocols
  trials must meet and things to consider if you want to participate in trial.

Clinical trials currently underway in New Zealand:

• Are you at high-risk of breast cancer? Find out more about a clinical trial looking at drugs which may help to prevent the disease from developing (July 2009)
  
  This trial is run by the Australia New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group and Cancer Research UK. It looks at the drugs Tamoxifen and Anastrozole and whether they may help to prevent breast cancer in women who are identified as being at high risk of developing the disease.
• Research study investigates the possibility of preventing breast cancer from recurring in women post-menopausal women (July 2010)

  The LATER trial looks at whether the drug Letrozole can help to prevent breast cancer from recurring in post-menopausal women who’ve previously taken hormonal therapy, such as tamoxifen.

• Women needed to participate in clinical trial which looks at the benefits of prolonged hormonal therapy.
  
  The SOLE research project examines whether taking the hormonal treatment Letrozole for more than five years can help to prevent or delay the recurrence of breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

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