BreastCancerTrials.org improves privacy and access to patients seeking clinical trials targeted to their personal health profiles
DALLAS – December 1, 2009 – Susan G. Komen for the Cure® announced today it is now helping cancer patients, survivors and those at risk utilize a free, privacy-based resource that custom matches them to clinical trials specifically targeted to their personal health needs.
BreastCancerTrials.org provides patient-friendly descriptions and information for more than 160 trials now underway at more than 1,500 medical facilities across the country. Komen for the Cure is providing a link from its website komen.org to the site that features trials for detecting and treating breast cancer and improving quality of trial participants’ lives.
“By helping people learn about those clinical trials specific to their needs, BreastCancerTrials.org provides an important service at what can be a confusing and nerve-wracking time,” said Elizabeth Thompson, vice president of Health Sciences for Komen. “We here at Komen want to help connect as many people as possible with those clinical trials that may provide new treatments and procedures at different stages of someone’s disease.”
The trials available to those interested are sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and other government agencies, private industry and non-profit foundations.
With the addition of the new one-of-a-kind privacy feature, users have a confidential platform from which they can directly contact participating research sites and invite a coordinator to view their personal information to discuss potential eligibility for a trial. This saves time and helps determine whether or not a visit to the research site, which could be miles away, would be worthwhile or necessary. Those who register for a ‘trial alert’ service receive automatic notification each time a new trial matching their profile is added to BreastCancerTrials.org.
About BreastCancerTrials.org
BreastCancerTrials.org operates as a program of QuantumLeap Healthcare Collaborative, a non-profit corporation. The website was initially co-developed as a regional pilot by the National Cancer Institute and the University of California, San Francisco Center of Excellence for Breast Cancer Care (COE-BCC), an integral program of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, and a core program of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. With the success of the pilot, BreastCancerTrials.org expanded to national scope and currently operates as a program of QuantumLeap Healthcare Collaborative with continued ongoing research and development from UCSF. For further information, visit the site at: www.BreastCancerTrials.org.
