Home → Symptoms & Diagnosis → Types of Breast Cancer → Ask-the-Expert Conferences: Types of Breast Cancer → October 2006: Inflammatory Breast Cancer → Gene therapy for IBC?

Gene therapy for IBC?

Page last modified on: October 13, 2008

Question from Gina: What kinds of gene therapy are being looked at for IBC?: Answers —Thomas Buchholz, M.D.: I'm not aware of a gene therapy trial.; Gabriel Hortobagyi, M.D., F.A.C.P.: I'm not aware of a gene therapy trial for inflammatory breast cancer. There are ongoing trials for breast cancer in general, but all of them are in the very early stages of development, mostly Phase 1 trial. But nothing specifically for inflammatory breast cancer. When new drugs are developed, the very first step is to establish what is the best way to give the drug, how much should be given, how frequently, and how well patients tolerate that way of administering the drug. The same is true for gene therapy, for gene therapy is, in a way, a drug. So at this stage in the gene therapy trial, they are trying to determine the best way to administer the gene therapy, how frequently, and how much needs to be administered to get the predicted effect. Only later in the second stage do those clinical trials get to be reliable enough so that one knows that the drug or gene therapy is given the best way so one can expect the best possible results. At this point, gene therapy is not considered part of standard treatment of inflammatory breast cancer.

On Wednesday, October 18, 2006, our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Gabriel Hortobagyi, M.D., Thomas Buchholz, M.D., and moderator Jennifer Sabol, M.D. answered your questions about inflammatory breast cancer, a rare but aggressive form of breast cancer.

The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.

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Meet the Experts

Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, M.D., F.A.C.P. chairs the department of breast medical oncology and directs the Breast Cancer Research Program at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he also serves as professor of medicine and holds the Nellie B. Connally Chair in Breast Cancer.

Thomas A. Buchholz, M.D. is professor of radiation oncology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Buchholz' research includes the role of radiation treatment in preventing breast cancer recurrence and whether certain genes may be able to predict how breast cancer responds to treatment.

Jennifer Sabol, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a breast surgeon who directs the newly developed Breast Care Center at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pa. Among her many interests, Dr. Sabol spearheads several research initiatives to advance the care for women with breast cancer and improve methods of breast cancer detection and treatment.