Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) investigators will present the latest results of five of its breast cancer trials during the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which takes place today through Dec. 14. Denise A. Yardley, M.D., SCRI’s director of breast cancer research, will present her research on various treatments—chemotherapy, anti-angiogenesis agents and targeted therapies—at four poster sessions on Dec. 12 and 13. Anti-angiogenesis drugs inhibit the growth of blood vessels that feed tumors, while targeted therapies deliver treatment directly to cancer cells and limit damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

The largest trial Dr. Yardley is presenting, with an enrollment of 214 patients, focuses on a combination treatment of the anti-angiogenesis agent Avastin with the chemotherapy drug Taxotere for the adjuvant treatment of early-stage breast cancer. Data for the first 138 patients enrolled indicate the combination treatment is reasonably well-tolerated and without unexpected side effects.

“Physicians are learning that breast cancer comes in a variety of forms, and some types respond to certain treatments better than others,” Dr. Yardley said. “We want to determine whether targeted drugs can be used alone or with chemotherapy to improve treatment results while reducing the side effects caused by damage to healthy cells.”