BUFFALO, N.Y. -- When it comes to the treatment and prevention of breast cancer, research done right here in Buffalo plays a major role in those advances we report on each week.
There are two kinds of research going on at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. One is focused on patient care and the other is focused on ways to prevent cancer in the first place. The patient-focused clinical research ranges from the development and testing of new, promising drugs, to what is called cancer survivorship. It involves understanding how to help people deal with cancer. Taking part in a study is always volunteer.
"Everything we know about how to treat breast cancer, things that we know to have demonstrated to reduce the death rate by over 30 percent, are because of tens of thousands of women who have participated in clinical research studies," said Dr. Stephen Edge, Chief of Breast Surgery Service at Roswell.
Christine Ambrosone, Roswell's Chair of Cancer Prevention and Control says, "Our goal as epidemiologists is really to understand cancer what causes cancer so we can prevent it. It is wonderful that we are making great advances in targeted therapies, to be able to cure cancer, but it would be great if people didn't have to go through that."
With research studies, clinicians are able to turn today's pretty good cancer treatments into tomorrow's great treatments and preventions.