I Spy2 Trail actually stands for ‘Investigation of Serial Studies to Predict Your Therapeutic Response with Imaging and Molecular Analysis’. A newly diagnosed breast cancer patient will receive anti-cancer drugs before surgery to remove their tumors. The drugs will be custom tailored using the patient’s genetic and biological markers and the results will be continuously analyzed in real time, not at the end of the trail!
What this means is that this study will treat breast cancer patients on an individualized basis, matching the most effective drug to the right patient and analyzed the effectiveness as administered. WOW!
The study is proposed to cost $26million over 5 years which is bargain basement costs compared to $1billion and 12-15 years to get a drug approved. Dr. Steven Chui who is the director of breast cancer clinical research at OHSU Knight Cancer Institute says, “Compared to the slow pace of current drug development, the I-Spy 2 platform potentially can help us identify five times as many active breast cancer drugs for one fifth of the cost, in half the time, using half the volunteers.” WOW AGAIN!
And where is the funding coming from you may ask? Lots of sources but one significant source is Safeway Inc. That’s right our grocery store through-out the US. Safeway Foundation recognized the major health threat to women that breast cancer presents and stepped up with a chunk of change to help deliver life-saving therapies to the thousands of women diagnosed with breast cancer every year.
The OHSU Knight Center hopes to open the I-Spy 2 Trial this summer, 2010. For more information, www.ohsuhealth.com/breastcancer