Breast cancer test may make bad chemotherapy recommendations for Black patients, study shows

“This might be a lifeline and also a ray of hope,” said Laura Sage, co-chair of the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation. “2024 is about putting the infrastructure in place. We do really want to launch at least one trial in 2024, but the aspiration is to have at least three to five trials by 2026.”

Dr. Rita Nanda, director of breast oncology at UChicago Medicine; Dr. William Gradishar, chief of hematology and oncology at Northwestern Medicine; and Dr. Ruta Rao, oncologist and medical director at RUSH University Cancer Center, are all on board with handling the consortium at their respective institutions.

Nanda said the infrastructure for the network will be housed at the University of Chicago, but all three colleagues will work collaboratively as part of a steering committee to enroll patients in the trials and help implement the research and design.

“Our goal is to focus on those who are underrepresented in clinical trials,” Nanda said. “We have a real opportunity here with the diversity that we’ve got in Chicago to improve on that. We’re starting with the three academic centers in the city that already have the infrastructure to do trials. We’ll start there, and try to build.

“My hope is that we’re going to see some great success in the first couple years,” Nanda said. “And then we can reach out to other organizations in the Chicagoland area, not just in the city, but beyond, wherever patients may want to participate in trials.”

Sage envisions the consortium expanding beyond the three institutions, and perhaps being a model for other areas.

“Breast cancer, like all other cancers, is not just one disease; the more data sampling we can get, the more that we can help patients,” Sage said.

Howard, who will be on medication for six to seven more years to make sure the cancer stays at bay, said she is open to participating in a study.

“I caught it early on,” she said. “I’m an advocate now. When anybody talks about breast cancer, I do put it out there for people, family, friends, everybody: ‘Don’t wait; go immediately.’ A lot of women don’t do it. I was lucky.”