THE AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND BREAST CANCER TRIALS GROUP: SOME CONTRIBUTIONS TO BREAST CANCER TRIALS

The Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group was formed in 1978 after the first adjuvant therapy trials were published. This commenced a new era of clinical trials and the commencement of substantial global collaboration, particularly with the International Breast Cancer Study Group. The Australia New Zealand Group is currently conducting 46 trials encompassing prevention and early and advanced disease. In the Australia New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group model the elected Board of Directors is responsible for legal and financial affairs, the Scientific Advisory Committee sets the research agenda and the Operations Office is responsible for conduct of the research program. The Australia New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group Statistical Centre is contracted out to the National Health and Medical Research Centre Clinical Trials Centre. The Australia New Zealand Group has had peer reviewed research funding (National Health and Medical Research Council) since 1979 and has contributed to more than 400 peer reviewed publications. The research program has always been based on quality science and multidiscipline collaboration. The Breast Cancer Institute of Australia was established to foster education and involvement of consumers in research. Important contributions have already been made by Australia New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group researchers to the documented falls in breast cancer mortality and further improvements can be expected from new targeted therapy trials. The Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZ BCTG) had its origin in 1975. At that time new advanced breast cancer trials in Cardiff were comparing first line treatment with tamoxifen or chemotherapy and initiating quality of life measurements in cancer patients. Results from the initial trials of adjuvant chemotherapy compared to no adjuvant chemotherapy were published, the L-PAM trial of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) by Bernard Fisher and colleagues 1 and the CMF trial from the

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