Our obligation is to understand why an agent works and to select the right patients for treatment
To promote the development of scientific research into pioneering clinical practice, thus enabling our patients to benefit from the very latest advances in oncological research
The database contains 117 publications. These include publications both with and without an impact factor.
TOTAL IF 2008: 715.467
Herramientas de contenido
Breast Cancer Program
The VHIO Breast Cancer Program is dedicated to the care of patients with breast cancer, as well as research, training and education. As a clinical academic unit, we are committed to clinical experience, clinical and translational research, and a broad range of teaching (from undergraduates, to medical trainees and fellows, nurses, clinical researches and others).
Our approach is based on the principle that clinicians need to provide the cancer patients with the best quality care possible. We are members of a multidisciplinary cancer team, meeting regularly to discuss the most appropriate treatment and management of each individual patient.
Over 12,600 patients were visited in 2008, including over 600 new patients
JAVIER CORTES, GROUP LEADER
Javier Cortés obtained his degree in Medicine and Surgery at the Autonomous University of Madrid (1996) before specializing in Medical Oncology. He joined the Medical Oncology Department of the Vall d´Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona in 2003, where he is currently coordinator of the Oncology Resident Teaching and Training Program.
He is the author of more than 24 peer-review publications, on breast and lung cancer, as well as new drugs. He actively participates in the development of national and international clinical studies, especially those related to agents aimed at molecular targets and new chemotherapy drugs, and is an ad hoc reviewer of several oncology journals.
He has been an attending physician in Medical Oncology at Vall d´Hebron University Hospital since 2003.He is a clinical investigator in the Breast Cancer and Melanoma programs and ishead of the Melanoma Program and deputy director of the Breast Cancer program.
He is the recipient of a grant from the American Oncology associations (ASCO & AACR) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in the “6th International Workshop in Clinical Cancer Research”, held in Flims, Switzerland, where he worked on the project “A phase I study of everolimus (RAD001) in combination with gefitinib in anthracycline- and taxane- pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer”.
CLINICAL MEMBERS
Attending Physicians
Patricia Gómez
Meritxell Bellet
Cristina Saura
Marta Guix
Serena di Cosimo
José Pérez
Fellow
Francesco Atzori
Clinical Trials
Coordinators
Olga Vidal
Raquel Espallargas
Violeta Esteban
Beatriz García
CLINICAL ACTIVITY
We are committed to bringing the best new agents to our patients via a comprehensive program of clinical trials. Every year, the number of patients included in clinical trials increases. Last year, 162 patients were enrolled in breast cancer clinical trials, in addition to those breast cancer patients participating in phase I trials.
Our primary objective is to provide the best clinical care to breast cancer patients, including adequate family support. We divide our clinical activity into two major categories: Outpatient and Inpatient care.
Outpatient care: In 2008 we visited more than 12,600 patients, of which over 600 were new patients. These numbers represent a 5% increase in new patients over the previous year, making us the leading hospital for breast cancer clinical activity in Spain.
Outpatient care includes the following:
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New patient visits
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Visiting patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment
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Follow-up visits.
Inpatient care: We visit patients hospitalized with breast cancer on a daily basis, perform follow-up visits, and if necessary place them in in-house continual care.
Our commitment to our patients is evidenced by the fact that our team has been able to eliminate the concept of waiting lists for breast cancer patients. Moreover, all patients are visited within one week, once they have been scheduled for a first visit.
Other activities include developing protocols to follow in different diagnostic and therapeutic processes in clinical practice guidelines. We were active participants in the drawing up the Breast Cancer Oncology Guidelines.
2008 was a particularly important year for all of us because the construction of the new Breast Cancer Center was concluded. This ambitious project was completed at the beginning of the year and the Center is now fully equipped and operational. The first floor houses surgery and radiology, and the primary use of the second floor is oncology. The services it provides include outpatient visits, day hospital, radiology, and biopsies and molecular diagnosis procedures.
The new centre has two main objectives:
First and foremost, it provides multi-disciplinary care to breast
cancer patients, enabling them to be visited by surgeons, radiologists and
oncologists, all on the same day, within the same functional unit.
SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY
Another important focus of the Breast Cancer Program is clinical research.
We have developed a broad program of applied clinical research that gives
patients the opportunity to receive innovative treatments.
We are developing phase I, II and III clinical trials, and our main goal is to add new molecules to the therapeutic arsenal in the battle against breast cancer.
The priorities of our program are:
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To understand the mechanisms that make cells overexpressing the HER2 receptor resistant to specific therapies, and then to develop strategies to counteract it by incorporating new drugs or by developing strategies to avoid the mechanisms of resistance.
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Clinical investigation into agents that target new pathways related to the aggressiveness of breast cancer, such as new anti-angiogenic agents.
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Research into new chemotherapy agents.
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The development of new pharmacologic combinations that may increase efficacy against breast cancer, often combining “classical” cytotoxic drugs with targeted agents.
CLINICAL TRIALS
A6181077 A Randomized Phase 2 Study Of SU011248 Versus Standard-of-Care For Patients With Previously Treated, Advanced, Triple Receptor Negative (ER, PR, HER2) Breast Cancer. Included patients: 1
CA180-088 Phase II Study of Dasatinib (BMS-354825) for Advanced Estrogen/Progesterone Receptor-Positive or Her2/Neu-Positive Breast Cancer. Included patients: 0
IV-ERT-BC-03 Phase II study for repeated dosing of the trifunctional bispecific anti-HER-2/neu x anti-CD3 antibody ertumaxomab in patients with HER-2/neu 1+ or 2+/FISH negative expressing advanced or metastatic breast cancer (stage IIIb/IV) progressing after endocrine treatment. Included patients: 4
EGF105485 A Randomized, Double-blind, Multicenter, Placebo-controlled Study of Adjuvant Lapatinib (GW572016) in Women With Early-Stage ErbB2 Overexpressing Breast Cancer. Included patients: 1
A6181064 A Randomized Phase 3 Study Of Docetaxel In Combination With Sunitinib Versus Docetaxel In The First-Line Treatment Of Advanced Breast Cancer Patients. Included patients: 9
CA180-004 Phase I Study of Dasatinib (BMS-354825) and Capecitabine for Advanced Breast Cancer. Included patients: 8
E7389-G000-301 A Phase III Open Label, Randomized Two-Parallel-Arm Multicenter Study of E7389 Versus Capecitabine in Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer Previously Treated With Anthracyclines and Taxanes. Included patients: 2
E7389-G000-305 The “EMBRACE” Trial: Eisai Metastatic Breast Cancer Study Assessing Physician’s Choice Versus E7389. A Phase III Open-Label, Randomized, Parallel, Two-arm, Multi-center Study of E7389 Versus “Treatment of Physician’s Choice” in Patients With Locally Recurrent, Metastatic Breast Cancer, Previously Treated With At Least Two and a Maximum of Five Prior Chemotherapy Regimens, Including an Anthracycline and a Taxane. Included patients: 20
WO20698 A Phase III, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Pertuzumab + Trastuzumab + Docetaxel vs. Placebo + Trastuzumab + Docetaxel in Previously Untreated Her2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer. Included patients: 1
VEG108838 A Randomized, Multicenter, Phase III Study Comparing the Combination of Pazopanib and Lapatinib Versus Lapatinib Monotherapy in Patients With ErbB2 Over-expressing Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Included patients: 3
AVF3693g A Phase III, Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Bevacizumab in Combination With Chemotherapy Regimens in Subjects With Previously Treated Metastatic Breast Cancer. Included patients: 3
ALTTO A Randomised, Multi-centre, Open-label, Phase III Study of Adjuvant Lapatinib, Trastuzumab, Their Sequence and Their Combination in Patients With HER2/ErbB2 Positive Primary Breast Cancer. Included patients: 6
SOFT Ensayo en fase III para evaluar el papel de la supresión de la función ovárica y el papel de exemestano como tratamientos adyuvantes para mujeres premenopáusicas con cáncer de mama endocrino sensible. Included patients: 21
EMR 200027-051 Randomized Phase II Trial With Cetuximab and Cisplatin in the Treatment of ER-Negative, PgR-Negative, HER2-Negative Metastatic Breast Carcinoma (“Basal Like”). Included patients: 10
SOLTI0701 Estudio multinacional fase 2b, doble ciego y aleatorizado para evaluar la eficacia y seguridad de sarafenib frente a placebo administrados junto con capecitabina en pacientes con cáncer de mama localmente avanzado o metastásico. Included patients: 12
MINDACT (Microarray In Node-negative Disease May Avoid Chemotherapy): A Prospective, Randomized Study Comparing the 70-Gene Signature With the Common Clinical-Pathological Criteria in Selecting Patients for Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Node-Negative Breast Cancer. Included patients: 18
BO20289 An Open Label 2-arm Study to Evaluate the Impact of Adjuvant Bevacizumab on Invasive Disease Free Survival in Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Included patients: 2
CA163100 Estudio fase II, aleatorizado, para analizar biomarcadores asociados al tratamiento neoadyuvante y secuencial de AC seguido de ixabepilona en comparación con AC seguido de paclitaxel en mujeres con estadios iniciales de cáncer de mama sin sobreexpresión de HER-2 ni receptores estrogénicos. Included patients: 6
EGF107671 A Phase II Study of Lapatinib Plus Topotecan or Lapatinib Plus Capecitabine in the Treatment of Recurrent Brain Metastases From ErbB2-Positive Breast Cancer Following Cranial Radiotherapy. Included patients: 0
3144A1-2206-WW Estudio de fase 1/2, abierto, de neratinib (HKI-272) en combinación con capecitabina en pacientes con tumores sólidos y en pacientes con cáncer de mama metastásico o localmente avanzado positivo para ErbB-2. Included patients: 1
PUBLICATIONS
Caralt M, Bilbao I, Cortés J, et al. Hepatic resection for liver metastases as part of the “oncosurgical” treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Ann Surg Oncol 2008;15:2804-10.
(IF: 3.917, 2 cuartil, oncology)
Cortés J, Di Cosimo S, Climent M, et al. Non-pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin (TLC-D99), Paclitaxel and Trastuzumab in HER2 Overexpressing Breast Cancer: A Multicenter Phase I/II Study. Clin Cancer Res.In press.
(IF: 6.250, 1 cuartil, oncology)
Marty M, Sotiriou C, Cortés J, et al. Defining new strategies for the use of anthracyclines in the management of breast cancer. The Oncologist. In press.
(IF: 4.876, 1 cuartil, oncology)
Gradishar W, Cortés J. Clinical efficacy and emerging therapeutic utilization of novel taxanes. Eur J Cancer. In press.
(IF: 4.454, 1 cuartil, oncology)
Di Cosimo S, Baselga J. Targeted therapies in breast cancer: where are we now? Eur J Cancer. 2008 Dec;44(18):2781-90. Epub 2008 Nov 14. Review.
(IF: 4.454, 1 cuartil, oncology)
Serra V, Markman B, Scaltriti M, Eichhorn PJ, Valero V, Guzman M, Botero ML, Llonch E, Atzori F, Di Cosimo S, Maira M, Garcia-Echeverria C, Parra JL, Arribas J, Baselga J. NVP-BEZ235, a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, prevents PI3K signaling and inhibits the growth of cancer cells with activating PI3K mutations. Cancer Res. 2008 Oct 1;68(19):8022-30.
(IF: 7.672, 1 cuartil, oncology)
Fabi A, Metro G, Ferretti G, Giannarelli D, Di Cosimo S, Papaldo P, Mottolese M, Carlini P, Felici A, Russillo M, Cognetti F. Do HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer patients benefit from the use of trastuzumab beyond disease progression? A mono-institutional experience and systematic review of observational studies. Breast. 2008 Oct;17(5):499-505. Epub 2008 May 1. Review.
(IF: 2.155, 2 cuartil, oncology science)
Vilar E, Scaltriti M, Balmaña J, Saura C, Guzman M, Arribas J, Baselga J, Tabernero J. Microsatellite instability due to hMLH1 deficiency is associated with increased cytotoxicity to irinotecan in human colorectal cancer cell lines. Br J Cancer. 2008 Nov 18;99(10):1607-12. Epub 2008 Oct 21.
(IF: 4.635, 1 cuartil, oncology)
Felip E, Rojo F, Reck M, Heller A, Klughammer B, Sala G, Cedres S, Peralta S, Maacke H, Foernzler D, Parera M, Möcks J, Saura C, Gatzemeier U, Baselga J. A phase II pharmacodynamic study of erlotinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2008 Jun 15;14(12):3867-74.
(IF: 6.250, 1 cuartil, oncology)
Baselga J, Semiglazov V, Van Dam P, Manikhas A, Bellet M, Mayordomo J, Campone M, Kubista E, Greil R, Bianchi G, Steinseifer J, Molloy B, Tokaji E, Gardner H, Phillips P, Stumm M, Lane HA, Dixon JM, Jonat W and Rugo HS. Phase II randomized neoadjuvant study of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus (RAD001) in combination with letrozole versus placebo and letrozole in patients with ER+ breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2008. In press.
(IF: 15.484, 1 cuartil, oncology)
MAIN RESEARCHER
Cortés, Javier
©2008 VALL D’HEBRON. Institut d’Oncologia. Todos los derechos reservados