Consortium
Projects
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Consortium
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The key to individualising treatment lies in rapidly “translating” the latest discoveries in cancer biology made by laboratory scientists into tools that physicians can use to help make decisions about the way to treat patients. This area of medicine linking basic laboratory research to the treatment of patients is called “translational” research.
TRANSBIG is a consortium that was launched in 2004 by BIG to promote international collaboration in translational research. It comprises 30 world-class institutions present in 12 countries and is managed by the BIG Headquarters. Each participating organisation brings with it expertise that ranges from being specialised in cutting-edge biomedical technologies and cancer treatment programmes to lobbying governments on behalf of patient groups and supporting cancer societies.
This consortium is dedicated to:
- advancing individualised treatment for breast cancer patients
- integrating, strengthening and facilitating translational breast cancer research in Europe and internationally within the framework BIG
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The main project launched under TRANSBIG is the MINDACT trial. Sponsored and coordinated by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) MINDACT compares a genomic prognostic test (Mammaprint®) developed with micro-array technology to traditional clinical-pathological methods for assessing the risk of breast cancer recurring in women with lymph node negative or 1 to 3 node positive disease. It is expected that this will help physicians and patients make better decisions about who can safely avoid chemotherapy and its potential side effects.
Beyond MINDACT, TRANSBIG also emphasises education for scientists, physicians, patients and patient advocates. By working closely with cancer societies and patient advocacy groups, it brings a coherence and synergy among the various breast cancer research stakeholders that has not previously existed.
While nearing the end (in 2011) of its formal support by the European Commission under Framework Programme VI, the TRANSBIG consortium, managed by the BIG Headquarters, will leave a lasting legacy in the form of a biological materials bank (“biobank”). Extremely valuable for translational research, this will allow researchers from around the world to access to genomic data and biospecimens. Moreover, many of the TRANSBIG committees and structures are being adapted to expand their expertise across BIG, benefitting the association in the longer term.
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The TRANSBIG Consortium receives funding from the European Commission under Framework Programme VI for the overall management of TRANSBIG as a Network of Excellence, the validation research that preceded the launch of MINDACT, the coordination of MINDACT in different European countries, and work in specific areas such as that of TRANSBIG Proteomics Working Group.
TRANSBIG is also supported by industry partners and charities that acknowledge the importance of its work and contribute to the funding of the Consortium: Agendia, Novartis, F Hoffmann-La Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Fondation contre le Cancer / Stichting tegen Kanker in Belgium, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Association Le Cancer du Sein - Parlons-en, the Jacqueline Seroussi Memorial Foundation, Susan G Komen for the Cure, the EBCC-Breast Cancer Working Group asbl/vzw, the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) and the UK Cancer Society.