Experts and patients met on the panel of the Cure Project Institute at the 10th All Together Against Cancer Congress and showed that the country needs to place greater value on clinical research.

“Just as all the drugs and vaccines we use today required research before being used, the cure for cancer also requires clinical studies to be found.” The phrase spoken by Fernanda Schwyter, President of the Cura Project Institute, during the panel “The cure of cancer begins with research” held last Thursday, the 28th, during the 10th All Together Against Cancer Congress, meets the institute's mission, which is to be a non-profit association that provides information, education and funding to support clinical research for the search for a cure against cancer.

With the presence of Dr. Heloisa Resende, Medical Oncologist and President of the Cura Scientific Committee; Sr. Claudiosvam Martins Alves de Sousa, Clinical Research Coordinator of the National Health Surveillance Agency — ANVISA; Dr. Ricardo Caponero, Clinical Oncologist at the Oswaldo Cruz German Hospital, Master in Molecular Oncology, Coordinator of the SBOC Palliative Care Committee, President of the FEMAMA Scientific Technical Council and Clinical Studies Co-Investigator; and Ana Cristina Angrisano, a clinical oncology research patient; the debates showed not only in theory, but also in practice with the testimony of an oncological patient undergoing treatment through clinical research, how important and capable of reversing a scenario they are, guaranteeing quality survival and control of this type of disease.

As mentioned by Dr. Ricardo Caponero, “studies must not only show that they work, but also that they are beneficial to patients and, for this, we need more research”.

In his explanation, Claudiosvam Martins, Research Coordinator at ANVISA, reinforced the thesis by saying that “there is still a huge space for investments in research in Brazil, mainly from domestic investments, from Brazilian companies”.

Impact of Clinical Research in Brazil

Dr. Heloisa Resende's presentation focused on Neosamba research, of which she is also one of the researchers through the Jardim Amália Research Center, in Volta Redonda (RJ). The study is currently in phase 3, recruiting 500 patients, coordinated by LACOG - Latin American Cooperative Oncology Group, bringing together 19 research centers in several Brazilian cities. The research seeks to confirm whether the new treatment sequence (taxanes and anthracyclines), with drugs already available in the SUS in women diagnosed with HER2-negative breast cancer, with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (before surgery), show an increase in disease-free survival and in the overall survival of women with this pathology.

The oncologist also showed that in breast cancers, 27% of cases are already found in advanced stages and asked the question: - “can I trust the treatment sequence I have with the disease at this stage?” , thus showing the relevance of rethinking the standard protocol used and its impact.

Headed by Dr. José Bines, principal investigator of the study, who presented phase 2 of this Neosamba research at ASCO in 2018, conducted at the National Cancer Institute - INCA, with 118 patients, showed great benefits in reversing the standard protocol and, with the actions of the Cura Project Institute, it is becoming possible to carry out this study, which will have a global impact.

In addition to presenting the benefits of the Neosamba research to the population, Dr. Heloisa showed important data from another study carried out by the Cura Project Institute, which will be published soon, and which need to be taken into account, such as:

• 70% of research centers are located in capitals;
• A third of oncologists refer less than 1% of patients to clinical research;
• Within the barriers identified: scarcity of protocols, the patient's need to travel to another location to participate in the research, bureaucracy related to regulatory processes;
• Difficulty to include hospitals in research;
• Lack of an updated and unified platform that could reliably report the availability of studies for each patient

Concluding the panel, Ana Cristina Angrisano, a metastatic breast cancer research patient and volunteer at the Cura Project Institute, told how she entered clinical research after the remission of her second cancer in 2015. “I started clinical studies in 2017, two years after the second diagnosis. At that time, the expectation was nil. When you receive such a diagnosis and are faced with a few months' survival option, obviously my choice was for life. And here I am, years later. I wish the surveys to be for everyone!”.

At the end, a video was presented of a campaign to publicize the Neosamba research, by actress Patrícia Pillar, carried out by the Cura Project Institute.

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Collaboration: Estrela Comunicação - Press Office