2009 Press Releases

Saint Barnabas Medical Center Offers Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Recurrent Chest Wall Breast Cancer

DIGNITY Trial to Combine ThermoDox® with Heat to Treat End-Stage Disease

Livingston, N.J. Some patients who suffer from recurrent cancer at the chest wall now have another option.  The Radiation Oncology Department at Saint Barnabas Medical Center is participating in a study which combines the use of the heat-sensitive chemotherapeutic agent ThermoDox® with microwave hyperthermia, or heat.

Depending on risk factors, a large percentage of women with mastectomies may experience recurrent chest wall (RCW) breast cancer. The disease is generally defined as the recurrence of tumor to the area of the initial treatment such as mastectomy.

 “ThermoDox® combined with hyperthermia offers a unique approach to treating patients with difficult and aggressive recurrence of breast cancer at the chest wall, explains Robert Goodman, M.D., chairman of The Radiation Oncology Department at Saint Barnabas Medical Center an co-principal investigator. “Currently, with no standard of care, women with this type of recurrence often cannot be adequately treated with surgery, radiation, or existing chemotherapy.”

The clinical trial, referred to as the DIGNITY Study, is designed to determine the necessary amount of ThermoDox® needed to treat RCW. Researchers hope such treatment will provide a better standard of care and improve the quality of life for those with the devastating disease.

Saint Barnabas Medical Center is one of a few hospitals nationwide to participate in this study. To learn more, please contact Dr. Goodman at 973-322-5630 or visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Date: March 23, 2009

Saint Barnabas Contact:  SAMANTHA ANTON, 973-322-5425

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