The Newsletter of ANZUP Cancer Trials Group Limited
AUTUMN 2015
www.anzup.org.au
Increased survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer who receive chemotherapy when starting hormone therapy HOT TOPIC
At the plenary session of the ASCO Annual Meeting in 2014, Associate Professor Sweeney presented the results of the CHAARTED trial. This randomised phase III trial showed that men with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer who received docetaxel chemotherapy at the start of standard hormone therapy lived more than a year longer than patients who received hormone therapy alone1. Standard initial therapy for metastatic prostate cancer is by lowering testosterone levels with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) as prostate cancer depends upon the male hormone testosterone for growth. Docetaxel chemotherapy has been shown to be beneficial for patients later in the disease when the cancer has started growing despite the suppression of testosterone. This study assessed the use of docetaxel earlier in the disease at the initiation of hormone therapy. They enrolled 790 men with metastatic prostate cancer and randomised participants to ADT alone or ADT with docetaxel chemotherapy every three weeks over a period of 18 weeks. A significant improvement in overall survival was noted favoring the participants who received docetaxel chemotherapy plus ADT with a median overall survival of 57.6 months compared with a median overall survival of 44.0 months with ADT alone. Of note, participants with a high volume of metastatic disease (defined as visceral metastases and / or 4 or more bone metastases) accounted for most of the benefit with a median overall survival of 49.2 months with docetaxel plus ADT compared with 32.2 months with ADT alone. Given the toxicities associated with chemotherapy, the authors commented that the use of early docetaxel in combination with ADT for patients who have high volume disease experienced the most benefit and appear the group where the benefits clearly justify the treatment burden .
Subsequently an update of the French GETUG 15 study was reported in February 2015 which randomised 315 men with hormone sensitive prostate cancer to either ADT alone or in combination with docetaxel. In contrast to the CHAARTED trial, this study did not show a statistically significant difference in survival but did show a trend in favour of early docetaxel for those with high volume disease as well 2. It is of note this study was done in an earlier era prior to access to the new therapies for castration resistant disease – this may account for the differences in results . Results just released from the UK STAMPEDE trial have also shown a survival benefit with docetaxel for patients with prostate cancer starting hormone therapy3. This trial enrolled 2,962 patients with either high-risk locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer to four arms of treatment. The addition of docetaxel to ADT prolonged survival by 10 months (67 versus 77 months). In the subset of patients with metastatic disease the survival benefit was greater at 22 months (43 versus 65 months)4, confirming the role of docetaxel at the initiation of hormone therapy in metastatic prostate cancer. References: 1. Sweeney, C. et al. Impact on overall survival (OS) with chemohormonal therapy versus hormonal therapy for hormone-sensitive newly metastatic prostate cancer (mPrCa): An ECOG-led phase III randomized trial. J Clin Oncol 32:5s, 2014 (suppl; abstr LBA2) 2. Gravis, G. et al. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus docetaxel (D) versus ADT alone for hormone-naïve metastatic prostate cancer (PCa): Long-term analysis of the GETUG-AFU 15 phase III trial. J Clin Oncol 33, 2015 (suppl 7; abstr 140) 3. James, N. et al. Docetaxel and/or zoledronic acid for hormone-naïve prostate cancer: First overall survival results from STAMPEDE (NCT00268476). J Clin Oncol 33:5s, 2015 (suppl; abstr 5001) 4. T he ASCO Post, 13th May 2014. http://www.ascopost.com/ViewNews.aspx?nid=27615&utm_ medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=&utm_term=4155600
NICKY LAWRENCE ANZUP Fellow
ANZUP UPdate | 1
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EVENT OVERVIEW
Riding for 4 hours to defeat 4 cancers Testicular, prostate, kidney & bladder cancers Whether you’re an avid cyclist, new to the sport or just looking for a challenge – the “Below the Belt Pedalthon” is the race for you. As the name suggests, teams of up to 6 are challenged to ride as many laps as possible within 4 hours. Testing true teamwork and strategy, riders may ride for as many or as few laps as possible.
in their efforts to improve treatments and outcomes for those affected by urogenital (prostate, testicular, kidney and bladder) cancers. These more common, but less glamorous “below the belt” cancers account for more than 27,500 cancers diagnosed in Australia every year. We need your help to fund more trials.
Have an industry rival? Looking for an excuse to challenge your peers? Bring it to the track! In 2014, 248 riders from 35 teams across several industries did more than 3,500 laps in the 4 hours.
PACKAGE HIGHLIGHTS ● Regular training schedules and tips provided by Australian cycling icons Brad McGee and Ben Kersten ● Individual pit lane garage for your team available for the day ● Access to mechanic, masseuse, food and drink ● Charity contribution ● Finishers’ awards and cycling goody bag ● Post ride event and function ● Complimentary 2015 BTB jersey
In the spirit of bygone corporate golf days, Pedalthon promises to provide a unique occasion to network with other enthusiastic cyclists from the business community, promote teamwork and bonding in the pit lane and to enjoy track racing circuits. How are you helping? All funds raised
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www.belowthebelt.org.au
JoinJoin us us at:at: SYDNEY MOTOR SYDNEY MOTOR SPORTS PARK, SPORTS PARK, TUESDAY TUESDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER 2015 1ST SEPTEMBER 2015
Cost Early Bird:
$1,750 per team excl GST
After 30 June:
$2,000 per team excl GST
Event details Tuesday 1st September 2015 7:30am:
Registration
8:30am:
Event & Safety
9:00am:
3 Hour Team Challenge
12:00pm: Sprint Challenge 1:00pm:
Lunch, Awards, Celebration #BTBpedal15
Hello and welcome to ‘UPdate’
Message from the Chair
Contents
Welcome to the Autumn 2015 edition of the newsletter of the Australian & New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group Ltd (ANZUP).
Hot Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Message from the Chair . . . . . . . 3 Message from the EO . . . . . . . . 6 ASM Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Bladder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Germ Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Prostate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Renal Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Quality of Life and Supportive Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Correlative and Translational Research . . . . . . . . . 19 Consumer Advisory Panel . . . . . 19 Other News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
It’s a bit scary how quickly a new year starts to show its age. We hardly were able to catch our breath at the end of 2014 when 2015 hit with a vengeance and we are all back in the thick of it again. Once again this year seems to be shaping up to be a very exciting and productive one. This newsletter as always is packed with news about our activities. Here are some of the key areas of activity for us.
1. Clinical trials. In March we celebrated the one-year anniversary of commencement of the prostate cancer ENZAMET and ENZARAD trials. These very important trials have attracted considerable international interest. We are now approaching the phase where our international collaborators will really start to make an impression. We have opened several sites in Ireland and the UK and patients are already starting to be entered there. An investigator meeting was held in Dublin on 2 March 2015, which was well attended with a lot of interest. NCIC is now activated with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute soon to follow. We continue negotiations for other sites and regions. Keep watching this space. ANZUP has several other important clinical trials that are ongoing. The BCG/mitomycin trial for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer is accruing well despite recent difficulties in accessing BCG. The accelerated BEP phase III trial in germ cell cancer is also accruing well, again with international interest. Trials that are either co-badged or done with other collaborators include the Living Well with Prostate Cancer trial, the study of prostate cancer in gay and bisexual men and their partners, and the RAVES trial in collaboration with TROG. All are doing very well and some have now completed accrual. The SORCE trial in resected renal cell carcinoma is of course no longer accruing but ANZUP was a very significant contributor to this study and many patients continue in follow-up. Other studies, such as the secondContinued over... ANZUP UPdate | 3
Message from the Chair continued line urothelial BL12 trial have now opened.
3. Governance.
ANZUP is delighted to hear the recent announcement by Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia that they will support new funding initiatives for 2015 through their collaboration with Movember. ANZUP has long pushed for specific funding for clinical trials to be identified and this has now eventuated with the PCFA Movember Clinical Trial Award scheme. Our prostate subcommittee worked hard and against tight timelines to submit an application for this. Other funding opportunities through PCFA and Movember include the Movember Clinician Scientist Award, the John Mills Young Investigator Award, and New Concept Grants (NCG). Information about these has been circulated to our membership and we encourage applications for them.
The ANZUP Board and its committees continue to meet regularly and ensure that the governance of the organisation is at the highest level. The 2014 AGM ratified amendments to our Constitution to provide for a director from New Zealand and the Board was delighted to welcome Nick Buchan recently into this position. Nick has been a longstanding contributor to ANZUP at many levels and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the Board. The Board had a strategic planning session in April to assist it in drafting the next version of our Strategic Plan.
We were delighted to hear confirmation that our grant application for the “Pain Free TRUS B” trial was successful in funding from Cancer Australia and PCFA. The working group is now deep in preparation for the roll out of this study – again, watch this space! The ANZUP ClinTrials Refer app is available for free through the iTunes store or for Android devices. This excellent app contains current and useful information about our trials including the clinical sites, trial eligibility criteria, and other links. Feel free to use it regularly and often, and of course we are interested in your feedback about it.
2. Concept Development Workshops. It has long been an aim of ANZUP to provide more and better opportunities for our members to get together and brainstorm ideas for new trials. Our recent successes in fundraising (more on that later) have given us the resources to do this. Two Concept Development Workshops were held in November 2014, with halfday programs for each of the four disease-specific subcommittees. Concepts were submitted in advance and several ideas were discussed and elaborated upon during the workshops. This initiative was agreed by all to have been highly successful and we aim to continue this and hopefully expand it further.
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Our various committees and subcommittees continue to work hard and productively. You will read their various reports elsewhere in the newsletter. Thanks to all of you who contribute so brilliantly to what we do.
4. Annual Scientific Meeting. Hopefully by now all our members have locked in the dates of 12-14 July 2015 and registered for the 2015 ANZUP ASM. A great program has been developed thanks to our dedicated convening committee under the leadership of our convenor Venu Chalasani. As always we will have a great cast of local presenters, complemented by great international speakers: Brian Rini, Bertrand Tombal, Ted De Weese and Chris Sweeney. There will be several breakfast sessions, a symposium on the Sunday night, an educational program for the Consumer Advisory Panel, a Community Forum, plenty of abstracts and posters, and as always the great atmosphere of collegiality that is characteristic of the ANZUP ASM. And the dinner. Don’t forget the dinner. The ANZUP Cancer Trials Group Limited Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 13 July 2015 so please also try to attend that if you are a member.
5. Fundraising. ANZUP is grateful for the infrastructure support it receives from the Australian Government through Cancer Australia. We have now far outgrown our starting point and additional funds are needed to support all the activities we are undertaking. We have obviously touched a chord here because many individuals and groups have recognised what we do and that we are distinct from other charities operating in a similar area: we do the trials that all the good research and our recognition of areas of
Message from the Chair continued clinical need tell us need to be done. One example was the Pedalthon in 2014, of which much has been written in these pages. The Pedalthon will be on once again on 1 September 2015 (http://www.belowthebelt.org.au/), so dust off that lycra, put the playing cards on the spokes, test the bell and make sure you are part of it. We have many other areas in which we are looking to raise funds and this is really paying off in terms of our ability to bring in new initiatives like the Concept Development Workshops. We have other even more ambitious plans though so we cannot be complacent. Please remember to promote ANZUP when you get the opportunity and to consider us as a beneficiary if you are taking part in generic fundraising activities like fun runs. We can provide advice and support as you need it.
6. Membership. Our membership continues to grow unabated. It is not just about the numbers, although they are very gratifying, but we continue to have a very broad base of new members coming in, in terms of professional discipline, geography, seniority and of course interests. Again, please continue to promote the group especially amongst your colleagues and trainees. I could go on and on, and some say that I do. As always I want to thank the key people: the ANZUP Board, members of the Scientific Advisory Committee and the various subcommittees, the Consumer Advisory Panel, our collaborators at NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, our investigators and site study teams. Thanks also to our very hardworking office team: Marg McJannett, Liz Thorp, Yi Fen and Jenni Beattie, and a warm welcome to our new ANZUP Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Sandra Stockley. Thanks also to our volunteers Lesley Tinkler and Jo Stubbs; our collaborators at NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre; our hardworking investigators and site study coordinators; our supporters, stakeholders and funders; and of course our patients, who are our reason for existence and the people who will give us the answers. What an honour for me to be part of all this.
ANZUP Preceptorship In Prostate Cancer Save the Date! ANZUP is now offering a Preceptorship program. The mentoring program is an effective format to engage junior oncologists and trainees in active learning, and improve their understanding of evidence-based management. This program deepens ANZUP’s commitment to professional development for those in the early stages of their career.
Details 20-21 November 2015 1.5 day course Melbourne Limited to 40 spaces
Who should attend? Any trainee, junior consultants (first 5 years of practice) in medical, radiation and surgical oncology.
What will be covered? • Landmark clinical trials in prostate cancer • S creening, multi-modality management of early, locally advanced and metastatic disease and supportive care • 7 Multi-disciplinary Preceptors including Professor Ian Davis, Professor Mark Frydenberg and Associate Professor Scott Williams • Content and learning is participant centred • E ach participant prepares six-minute presentation on 2 seminal GU cancer papers • Individual feedback from one of 5-6 Preceptors Convenor – Associate Professor Eva Segelov Co-convenor – Associate Professor Jeremy Shapiro
Please enjoy this edition of UPdate.
For more information:
IAN DAVIS Chair, ANZUP
http://www.anzup.org.au/content.aspx?page=preceptorship
Calling for applications!
ANZUP UPdate | 5
Message from the Executive Officer Meetings In February Ian Davis and I attended ASCO GU in Orlando – and no I didn’t get to the theme parks. However it was a great opportunity for us to meet up with a number of our international collaborators and global pharmaceutical companies to discuss current and proposed studies. Immediately post ASCO Ian and Chris Sweeney jetted across to Dublin to present at the ICORG Investigator meeting for our ENZA studies. By all accounts the meeting was extremely well received. Our thanks to Ian and Chris for rescheduling their clinical and family commitments to be present. Our thanks also go to the ICORG team - Ray McDermott, Vittorio Marchesin, Olwyn Deignan and Joseph Ward for their efforts to ensure a very successful meeting.
Membership Survey In the lead up to the Board’s review of our Strategic Plan last month we wanted to go out to the members to get your views about ANZUP and how we can best communicate with you, staying relevant and supportive in your research activities. I think overall the results were positive with responders indicating that they felt the volume and relevance of our communication is on track. There is potential to engage more members to come to the ASM and we encourage you to provide suggestions as to how we can do better. Thank you to all those members who took the time to respond. Good luck to those that entered our competition ($200 DJ voucher) we will be drawing this at the ASM.
Collaborations - USANZ Continuing to build on our collaboration with USANZ we recently held an ANZUP Clinical Trials workshop pre the USANZ ASM. The Workshop on Saturday morning went very well and although numbers were small those who did attend, urologists from Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and Canada, were able to have some dedicated time to put forward their ideas and have some good discussion. Hopefully encouraging future clinical trials researchers. Saturday afternoon provided us with another great opportunity to meet with some key urologists to discuss our OPTMUM study. Finally on the Sunday we held a joint USANZ ANZUP session which was extremely well attended. Shomik Sengupta did a superb 6 | ANZUP UPdate
job in setting the scene of the importance of clinical trials followed by excellent presentations from Alberto Bossi, James Eastburn and Francis Parnis. Our thanks to Shomik Sengupta, Dickon Hayne and Venu Chalasani for all their efforts to pull together this Clinical Trials program. A special thank you to Martin Stockler who did a superb job in running the Clinical Trials Workshop. You can read more about USANZ in Shomik’s report on page 22.
ASM As previously mentioned this year’s ASM will be held at the Sofitel Wentworth Sydney from July 12-14. The theme “Redefining Personalised Medicine” sees a focus around treatments that are tailored to encompass prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and psychological support for the individual. It will once again provide our multidisciplinary members with an opportunity to present their research, learn about our new and existing ANZUP trials, as well as the most up to date cancer management in GU cancers to help us meet the challenges of the future. We will also hold our highly successful MDT Masterclass. The MDT Masterclass: A case based workshop will be targeting Urological Surgeons, Radiation and Medical Oncologists, Nurses, Psychologists and Allied Health Professionals. Please register now and encourage your friends, colleagues and trainees to join us. Don’t forget if they aren’t members of ANZUP (is it possible that anyone working in GU cancer is not a ANZUP member!) please encourage them to join and take advantage of the discounted registration. We will again be hosting our Community Engagement Forum A LITTLE BELOW THE BELT. The forum is an excellent opportunity for your patients and families to hear firsthand from a very experienced line up of presenters, about the importance of clinical trials and the impact that a diagnosis of “below the belt” cancers can have. As with last year we also plan to have some valuable tips and advice on using the internet and social media to obtain reputable health information. Please consider promoting the forum to your patients, in particular those in NSW, to join us. It’s free to attend however registration is essential https://www.anzup. org.au/content.aspx?page=asm-community
Key Findings Member Survey
N=79
18%
OUR MAIN RESPONDENTS
CLINICAL TRIALS COORDINATORS
36%
MEDICAL ONCOLOGISTS
11% UROLOGISTS
OTHERS
86%
94%
OF MEMBERS RATE OUR CURRENT COMMUNICATION AS PREDOMINANTLY VERY – TO – EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE
OF MEMBERS BELIEVE THEY ARE GETTING THE RIGHT INFORMATION
CONTENT
3
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
4
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
5
UPDATE NEWSLETTER
2 3
HOT TOPIC INTER
MEMBERS ONLY RESOURCES
55%
ANZUP CLINICAL TRIALS
OTHER CLINICAL TRIALS (CO-OP GROUPS)
IN ORDER OF WHAT IS THE MOST INTERESTING TO MEMBERS
MEMBERS RANK TOP 3 SECTIONS ON OUR SITE
ASM ATTENDANCE
MENTORING
E
41%
LY T INTE R E S
D
MEETING INFORMATION
SAY IT IS ALWAYS RELEVANT
M IL
2
1
31%
SAY IT IS MOSTLY RELEVANT
ING
TRIAL UPDATES
WEBSITE
67%
ST
1
RELEVANCE
G
INFORMATION
IN
COMMUNICATION
MEMBERS THOUGHTS ON THE ADDITION OF HOT TOPIC TO ANZUP’S UPDATE NEWSLETTER
RECOMMENDATIONS
73% ALREADY HAVE
62%
87% WILL IN THE FUTURE
THE MAJORITY OF MEMBERS HAVE ATTENDED THE ANZUP ASM
MENTORING IS VIEWED AS SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT/ IMPORTANT
MEMBERS WHO HAVE OR WILL IN THE FUTURE RECOMMEND ANZUP MEMBERSHIP TO COLLEAGUES
ANZUP UPdate | 7
Message from the EO continued Sponsors
Tolmar Fellowship
I would like to acknowledge this year’s major sponsors. Without their sponsorship, we could not host such a high-quality meeting spanning the three days. Our sincere thanks go to this year’s ASM sponsors:
We are grateful to Tolmar for once again partnering with ANZUP to support the 2015 Uro-Oncology Clinical Research Fellowship (CRF).
PLATINUM SPONSORS
The CRF is intended to support early/mid career clinicianresearchers of any health care discipline, and will provide $60,000 for a period of one (1) year to the institution of the successful applicant. We look forward to announcing the successful applicant at the upcoming ASM. We also look forward to Ben Tran presenting on the outcome of his research as a consequence of the 2014 CRF.
GOLD SPONSORS
Staff We say farewell to Internal Communications Manager, Jenni Beattie as she embarks on a consulting career and thank her for her efforts here. We wish her all the best. MARGARET MCJANNETT Executive Officer
SILVER SPONSORS
Support our Corporate Partners
MDT MASTERCLASS
BEST OF THE BEST AWARD SPONSOR
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FIGHT CANCER
BELOW THE BELT TESTICULAR • PROSTATE • BLADDER • KIDNEY
www.anzup.org.au | @ANZUPtrials | 02 9562 5033
For the past 12 months, The Saturday Paper has supported ANZUP with pro-bono full page and half page advertisements (as shown) They are corporate supporters of ANZUP and we are very grateful for the space they have provided.
EVENING SYMPOSIUM SPONSORS
TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP SPONSOR
IN THIS FIGHT THERE ARE NO RULES.
This opportunity to raise awareness in the business community will assist ANZUP in achieving their strategic goal of raising untied funding and creating awareness in the community. The Saturday Paper is Australia’s leading source of quality independent journalism. If you are interested in subscribing to The Saturday Paper, please call or follow the web link. Subscribe today at www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/subscribe or call 1800 077 514
12-14 JULY 2015 SOFITEL SYDNEY WENTWORTH
ANZUP ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING Redefining Personalised Medicine #ANZUP15
The Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate (ANZUP) Cancer Trials Group invites you to our 2015 Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) to be held at Sofitel Wentworth Sydney from 12-14 July, 2015. Program highlights will include: • State of the art presentations from leading international and Australian experts; • Up-to-date management and research for prostate and other genitourinary cancers; • Opportunities for researchers to present their research; • Clinical Trial Concept Development Session; • Overviews of current and planned ANZUP trials; • ANZUP MDT Masterclass; • C ommunity Engagement Forum: “A Little Below the Belt”
The ANZUP annual scientific meeting program is shaping up well. Promising new technologies are now entering mainstream medicine, in particular in the diagnostic space, which are transforming our understanding of each individual patient’s disease stage. The program will introduce the early evidence that is gathering behind these new technologies, such as PET scanning. The MDT masterclass will run once again this year. Cases will discuss and highlight the clinical dilemmas where the evidence is not robust, allowing people to hear what others are currently doing when faced with uncertainty. It will also allow people to hear what current best practise is for common clinical scenarios. We hope to see everyone there so register here http://www.anzup.org.au/content. aspx?page=asm-home VENU CHALASANI ASM Convenor 2015 For more information visit www.anzup.org.au ANZUP UPdate | 9 For more information www.anzup.org.au
In Memoriam Matthew Carr Every member and friend of ANZUP plays a part on the way to eliminating and alleviating the devastating effects of below the belt cancers that this close knit group specialises in. We are all cognisant that outcomes are, at times, less than optimal. But each day, our individual and collective efforts put us one step closer to achieving our high objectives. Earlier this year a member of ANZUP’s Consumer Advisory Panel passed away as a result of testicular cancer, one of the very diseases that we are working hard to prevent. Matthew Carr, Army Major, husband and father of two, died on 31 January, 2015. He was only 38 years old. He packed much into those short years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a professional soldier, a recently completed Masters degree and much more. But perhaps the standout aspect of Matthew’s life was his commitment to helping the next guy. From the time of Matthew’s diagnosis with testicular cancer in his early 20’s, he became heavily involved in promoting awareness, ensuring young men heard the message about his disease. In 2009 he published his biography ‘Battle Scars’ which concentrated on how he dealt with his cancer. He was an impressive and engaging communicator and continued to work tirelessly with ANZUP, despite his personally deteriorating prognosis. There is possibly no better way of expressing his passing than to say that our dear colleague died on active service. RAY ALLEN Deputy Chair, ANZUP Consumer Advisory Panel
Dr Ian Roos OAM Ian was an academic, an advocate, an ally and an asset. He was a stalwart supporter of ANZUP, the broader prostate cancer community and indeed the whole cooperative cancer clinical trials group structure in Australia. I vividly remember, after we were unsuccessful in our first application to Cancer Australia for funding to set up ANZUP, how Ian spent considerable time with me outlining where we could strengthen our application to the point where we were ultimately successful. That conversation and many that followed led to our governance structure and in particular our Consumer Advisory Panel, which has been seen by many organisations as a shining example of how community and consumer involvement should work. Ian was never short of an opinion and recognised that not everyone always agreed with him. He had a unique and effective style of communication. However, he was always willing to listen and take a balanced view and I know that I personally always came away from our interactions with a new and broader perspective. Ian was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 “for service to the community through raising awareness of men’s health issues,” a richly deserved honour. Ian was a cancer “survivor” for a long time and sadly we can no longer say that he is. The word “survivor” is such an imperfect one: passing through the experience of cancer is about more than simply surviving, and in many respects the term can undervalue the memory of those who eventually do not survive their cancer. ANZUP is grateful to Ian Roos for all he did for us and the broader cancer community and we will remember him fondly. We were in fact already looking at ways that we could honour Ian’s memory in a longer lasting way and we hope to have more information for you on this soon. For now: we have a job to do and people to help. That is the best way to honour Ian and all the others whom we serve.
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IAN DAVIS Chair, ANZUP
ANZUP welcomes... Nicholas Buchan Welcome to our new Board member, Nicholas Buchan from New Zealand. Nick is a urologist at Christchurch Public Hospital and Urology Associates as well as Medical Director at Canterbury Urology Research Trust. After initial house officer years in Christchurch he trained in Urology in Brisbane and spent a couple of years in Vancouver undertaking a Uro-oncology Fellowship at the Vancouver Prostate Centre before returning to a job in Christchurch. Urological surgery has evolved rapidly in recent years with the increasing use of new technology including advanced laparoscopy and more recently robotics. Nick sees a real need to develop and integrate robust clinical trials in surgical technique and outcomes to aid the introduction of these new technologies to ensure they add value for the patient and are cost effective for the public as a whole. Nick’s appointment to the board was preceded by his existing involvement with ANZUP due to an interest in clinical research and his involvement in a New Zealand Genito-urinary cancer multi-disciplinary group the GUSIG. He is passionate about the collaborative dynamic environment and has personally valued the mentoring environment that it provides. He believes that clinical trials are obviously a vital cog in the wheel of medical innovation and the testing of new ideas and techniques. Through Canterbury Urology Research Trust the Urologists in Christchurch have since 1997 been involved in both pharmaceutical and investigator lead research. Nicholas believes that as ANZUP evolves the ease of involvement of New Zealand sites in ANZUP trials will be a more streamlined process. With three young children, a passion for golf and mountain biking we look forward to his energetic input on the board.
CTC Fellows Nicky Lawrence Nicky completed her Medical Oncology training in Auckland, New Zealand and moved to Sydney to work at the CTC. She has a keen interest in genitourinary cancers and currently works with ANZUP as a clinical research fellow and is a PhD candidate through the CTC (University of Sydney). She is passionate about oncology research and excited about working in a research environment with the collaborative trial groups. She recently had the opportunity to present Dr Reuben Broom’s concept of the addition of bisphosphonate therapy to first line pazopanib for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and bone metastases. More recently she lent a hand to edit our Hot Topic article in this edition of UPdate (page 1).
Howard Chan Howard is a 3rd year advance trainee in Medical Oncology who did his two core years of medical oncology training in the Liverpool network. He did his basic physician trainee in the St Vincent’s network and also did a post graduate medical degree with the University of Queensland. His undergraduate degree was in Biomedical Engineering completed at University of NSW. He is currently working full time at the NHMRC CTC as a research fellow with ANZUP and ATIG. As a resident at Liverpool hospital he had the opportunity to work in the medical oncology/ haematology ward and watching the patients go through their journey inspired him to be part of this area of medicine. He is motivated by the constant search for innovative ways to combat cancer.
ANZUP UPdate | 11
ANZUP welcomes...
Dr Raymond Chan A warm welcome to Dr Raymond Chan who was endorsed by the ANZUP Board on 18 February as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee on the recommendation of CNSA. Dr Chan is the Director of Research and Innovation at West Moreton Hospital and Health Service, Queensland Health and also holds a joint position as Deputy Director Research & Nurse Researcher at Cancer Care Services, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), and NHMRC Health Professional Research Fellow at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He is a clinician- academic with established leadership at a local, national and international level and is the President for Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA). The SAC, which consists of members representing the major disciplines relevant to ANZUP, plus the Chairs of our Bladder, Kidney, Prostate and Testicular cancer subcommittees look forward to the contributions Dr Chan’s appointment will bring.
Sandra Stockley Welcome to Sandra who has joined the team at ANZUP. Sandra will be working two days a week across a range of editorial and event duties.
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Our Consumer Magazine Issue 3 of the ANZUP Consumer Magazine “A Little Below the Belt” is due to be published at the end of May. This publication will provide our consumer community with accessible and accurate information about the work ANZUP does along with stories of a patient’s journey through clinical trials. The next edition focuses on our regional and remote consumers, clinicians, and trial coordinators. For many patients, the decision to have treatment has to be weighed up against time away from home and long journeys away from family and work. Having access to ANZUP’s clinical trials in a regional location can be the difference between choosing to be treated or not. We know we have an active readership online through issuu.com http://issuu.com/ anzup/docs/anzup_issue_ammended and encourage you to consider sharing this engaging and informative publication with your patients in your waiting room. You can access previous editions on the ANZUP website http://www.anzup.org.au/ docview.aspx?id=233 or contact ANZUP liz.thorp@anzup.org.au to have printed copies sent directly to you. If you have a patient or former patient you think would be interested in having their story told please let us know. The value of these “my own experience” stories cannot be understated. Likewise, if you want to help us talk to our consumers about your own experience as an ANZUP member please let us know.
UPDATES FROM SAC & SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) The SAC met by teleconference on 4 March and 13 May 2015. Much of the discussion related to the outcomes of the Concept Development Workshops held in November 2014. Quite a few new concepts are likely to come out of these workshops and the SAC will need to consider them in the light of the ANZUP Strategic Plan and prioritise its recommendations regarding which should proceed. The ANZUP SAC is characterised by its resilience and flexibility but this means that sometimes various activities need to occur “out of session.” A recent example was the very short time frame given for ANZUP to make a decision regarding what protocol should be considered for submission for the PCFA Movember Clinical Trial Award scheme. Fortunately we were able to move on this quickly, which meant that this key opportunity was able to be grasped. The broader group was able to be consulted and had opportunity for input as well. ANZUP also has the benefit of a fantastic multidisciplinary representation on the SAC. This ensures that all opinions and positions can be considered and that we do not find ourselves inappropriately weighting certain areas or initiatives. Mei Krishnasamy has been a longstanding SAC member representing Cancer Nurses Society of Australia. Mei has now stepped into the role of President of COSA and is unable to continue on the SAC. ANZUP thanks Mei for her great service and cool wisdom and advice. We are delighted to welcome Ray Chan onto the SAC as the new CNSA representative. The SAC has great support from the four disease-specific subcommittees, the Quality of Life and Supportive Care subcommittee, the Correlative and Translational Research subcommittee, and the Consumer Advisory Panel which provides members to the other committees also. We also have the benefit of external advice in
regards to health economics (CREST) and other QOL tools. ANZUP’s processes are meant to be inclusive. Membership of the SAC is through appointment by the Board on the recommendation of the relevant special society or professional organisation. Membership of the subcommittees is open to any interested ANZUP member and we strongly encourage you to participate at any level you wish. This might be as a quiet observer, an active participant in the discussion, a local champion and investigator, overall trial leadership, or a leadership role in the committee. We also encourage participation by junior people to help them gain experience in the process and give them a taste for clinical research especially in the context of a cooperative group. These people are the next generation of clinical and research leaders and we want to make sure we have the best ones we can have. Please encourage them to join and participate, and take advantage of the opportunities ANZUP can offer including the ability to apply for travel or other grant support for the ASM. Thanks as always to those of you who participate at any level. You are truly making a difference for our patients and their families. IAN DAVIS Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee
Twitter Did you know ANZUP is tweeting? If you aren’t already following us you can find us at @ANZUPtrials. We hope all ANZUP members with twitter accounts will start following us. Key dates, trials updates, news and good news stories are regularly being tweeted.
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Bladder Cancer It is great to see the increasing involvement and profile of ANZUP at surgical meetings. The USANZ ASM in Adelaide 11-14 April featured plenty of original research from ANZUP members, some of which received national media coverage. A highly successful concept development workshop, the first at an USANZ meeting, was chaired by Martin Stockler. Shomik Sengupta gave an overview of current ANZUP trials and chaired an ANZUP podium session with an excellent international faculty (James Eastham & Alberto Bossi) and Adelaide medical oncologist Francis Parnis. USANZ 2015 also featured a further ANZUP meeting dedicated to progressing the OPTIMUM trial (choice and timing of peri-operative chemotherapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer) and the ACCEPT concept looking at combining a cystectomy integrated care pathway with randomised interventions to promote early recovery from cystectomy. This meeting was extremely well attended and we remain grateful for all the excellent input- special thanks to USANZ President Mark Frydenberg for his attendance and support. Concerning the BCGMMC Trial, recruitment issues continue related to the world BCG shortage though mercifully some further BCG supply for the trial has now been received. Also availability of the Indian manufactured SII Onco BCG, manufactured from a Russian BCG strain, has relieved supply of BCG (nontrial patients) in some areas. It is anticipated that BCG supply will normalise over the coming months and as new centres open recruitment to the trial should get back on track. Thanks to all those at the CTC for their amazing efforts in difficult circumstances. Nanoparticle albumin-bound (NAB)-Paclitaxel vs. Paclitaxel as second line in metastatic urothelial cancer has opened to recruitment in Canada and should be opening very soon in Australia. Andrew Weickhardt’s proposed trial investigating the addition of the PD1 inhibitor MK3475 to chemo radiation for muscle invasive bladder cancer has already received early support. 14 | ANZUP UPdate
The other radiation oncology study currently in development is RAIDER-B. Successful in securing a Cancer Australia grant, this international collaboration with the UK looks at different adaptive radiotherapy techniques in muscle invasive bladder cancer and aims to recruit 60 Australian patients over 3 years. DICKON HAYNE Chair, Bladder Cancer Subcommittee
Germ Cell The germ cell subcommittee continues to be very active in 2015.
Phase III RCT of accelerated BEP (plus translational sub study) Now open at 25 sites and recruiting! This randomised trial of chemotherapy with accelerated BEP versus standard BEP for patients with intermediate or poor-risk advanced germ cell tumours is supported by Cancer Council Australia and Cancer Australia. 25 of 29 ANZ sites have been activated including all 4 New Zealand sites, and 10 patients have been recruited from Austin hospital (PI Dr Andrew Weickhardt, 2 patients), Princess Alexandra hospital (PI Damien Thomson, 2 patients), Concord Hospital (PI Prof Martin Stockler), Prince of Wales Hospital (PI Dr Elizabeth Hovey), Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital (PI Dr David Wyld), Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PI Prof Guy Toner), Christchurch Hospital (PI DR Jim Edwards), Chris O’Brien Lifehouse (PI A/Prof Peter Grimison). Please see protocol summary on page 16. CTAAC has awarded funding to (PI Dr Danish Mazhar) for a number of sites in the United Kingdom to participate in the trial, and we continue negotiation with other potential international collaborators. Our
Germ Cell continued translational substudy supported by Sydney Catalyst is active. Our trial coordinator Annie Yeung, Associate Oncology Program Manager Nicole Wong, and ANZUP research fellows Felicia Roncolato and Anne Long continue to work behind the scenes on this important study. If you have any questions in relation to this study, then please use the p3bep@ctc.usyd.edu.au email address.
e-shed survivorship interventional study This pilot study developed an internet-based intervention to address psychosocial distress for survivors of testicular cancer, and was conducted by the PsychoOncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG) in collaboration with ANZUP and Swinburne University of Technology. Dr Ben Smith anticipates presenting initial results at the 2015 World Congress of Psycho-Oncology and Sydney Catalyst 2015 International Translational Cancer Research Symposium. PoCoG is leading the development of a subsequent phase 2 study.
Updates from studies in follow-up 1. “Chemotherapy and Cognition”: Statistical analyses by COGSTATE for this study of 150 patients led by Prof Ian Olver, which has prospectively monitored cognitive function in patients managed with and without chemotherapy for testicular cancer, are being finalised, with results expected by the 3rd quarter of 2015. 2. “Phase II study of accelerated BEP for advanced germ cell tumours”: Follow-up is ongoing for this study, with an updated 5-year analysis planned for the end of 2015.
Movember ANZUP continues to work with Movember on their GAP5 Translational Research Project, which is a translational project that aims to identifying the biological drivers of relapse in this cohort of men. It is hoped that the final research plan will give ANZUP and its Australian collaborators the opportunity to participate in this important research.
Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients Receiving First-Line Chemotherapy for Disseminated Germ Cell Tumours Dr Ben Tran from Royal Melbourne Hospital has developed this important retrospective cohort study to confirm results of his recent study suggesting that bulky retroperitoneal Lymphadenopathy is a significant predictor of venous thromboembolism. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Ben directly.
Current concepts in development Concepts in development include a study for stage 1 testicular cancer addressing promotion and patterns of surveillance and unmet needs; and a national germ cell registry. ANZUP hopes to participate in the TIGER study, which is an international randomised trial of high-dose chemotherapy with TI-CE versus conventional-dose chemotherapy with TIP for refractory and relapsed germ cell tumours led by Alliance and by EORTC, and are grateful for interest from Movember in supporting Australia’s involvement.
Save the date – G3 meeting at ASCO 30 May 2015 Interested members are invited to attend the G3 Global Germ Cell Cancer Cooperative Group meeting at ASCO in Chicago on 30 May 2015. Please contact me for details.
Call for new members The Germ Cell Sub-committee always welcome new members including trainees who will contribute to research activity. Please encourage your interested colleagues and trainees to join the sub-committee. We are a multi-disciplinary group, and we encourage participation of members not only from medical oncology, but also from surgery, radiation oncology, nursing, psycho-oncology, and basic science. Again I thank the efforts of investigators, staff from ANZUP and the CTC, and patients for these achievements. PETER GRIMISON Chair, Germ Cell subcommittee ANZUP UPdate | 15
PROTOCOL SUMMARY A randomised phase 3 trial of accelerated versus standard BEP chemotherapy for participants with intermediate and poor-risk advanced germ cell tumours Trial Aim:
Study treatment:
To determine if accelerated BEP is superior to standard BEP as first-line chemotherapy for intermediate and poorrisk advanced GCTs.
Participants will be randomised to either “standard BEP” or “accelerated BEP” arm as follows: Standard BEP arm
Primary objective - To compare PFS amongst participants randomised to standard BEP or accelerated BEP
Secondary objectives - To compare Overall survival , Response rates, Adverse events, Health-related quality of life, Preferences, and Delivered dose-intensity of chemotherapy Translational objectives - To determine associations between biomarkers and their correlations with clinical outcomes
Participants will receive 4 cycles of Standard BEP as follows: Bleomycin 30,000 international units IV weekly (eg. days 1, 8 and 15 or days 2, 9 and 16) Etoposide
100 mg/m2 IV on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Cisplatin
20 mg/m2 IV on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Pegylated G-CSF 6mg SCI on day 6 Treatment is repeated every 3 weeks (21 days). The planned total duration of treatment is 12 weeks.
Study Population: Male participants aged between 16 years and 45 years with advanced germ cell tumours (NSGCT or seminoma) of intermediate or poor prognostic category by modified IGCCCG criteria with adequate bone marrow, hepatic and renal function.
Trial Design: Open-label, randomised, 2-arm, multi-centre, phase 3 clinical trial.
Recruitment Target: Part I of the trial aims to recruit 90 patients from about 25 sites in Australia and New Zealand, and an additional 60 patients from international sites in the United Kingdom and USA. Part 2 of the trial would recruit an additional 350 patients and is dependent on involvement of international trial groups.
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Accelerated BEP arm Participants will receive 4 cycles of Accelerated BEP as follows: Bleomycin 30,000 international units IV weekly (eg. days 1 and 8 or days 2 and 9) Etoposide
100 mg/m2 IV on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Cisplatin
20 mg/m2 IV on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Pegylated G-CSF 6mg SCI on day 6 Treatment is repeated every 2 weeks (14 days). Following the above regimen, an additional 4 weekly doses of bleomycin 30,000 international units will be given. The planned total duration of treatment is 12 weeks.
Prostate Cancer The prostate subcommittee has remained very active in the past quarter. The “big 2” studies involving enzalutamide continue to expand and accrue. ENZARAD has now accrued 56 men and ENZAMET 149. Our main focus has been on opening collaborations within Europe, UK and Ireland. The Irish trials group (ICORG) has taken the lead and will coordinate the studies for the region. We are now also part of the UK Clinical Research Network Study Portfolio, meaning both studies should be available nationally there very soon. EORTC has endorsed ENZARAD and will take that forward in the near future. ENZAMET is in the process of opening in Canada through NCIC, and negotiations continue about getting ENZARAD open there also. Thanks must go out to our “inside people” in these organisations who have championed the studies through the due process in remarkably quick time, along with the all the networking done by ANZUP members, especially Ian Davis, Martin Stockler and our northern hemisphere team of Paul Nguyen and Chris Sweeney. The behind the scenes people at ANZUP have also done a fantastic job at sorting through all manner of issues such as the complexities of intergroup contracts, site activations, compliance, supply logistics, funding issues and protocol amendments. As other regions open we are hopeful for a substantial upswing in accrual. There has been a major protocol amendment rolled out for ENZAMET incorporating early chemotherapy usage following the CHAARTED study. The second version of the ENZARAD protocol will be available in June that incorporates several changes to the radiation therapy options (such as brachytherapy boost and nodal irradiation) to better fit with variations in global practice. We are holding this off until after ASCO in late May as there are several adjuvant chemotherapy studies being presented there and data from these may need to be incorporated also. Also of note is the recent funding success for the ANZUP concept for evaluation of Penthrox analgesia for prostate biopsy has been fully funded by a Pdccrs grant (Cancer Australia and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia) for three years. This is a great accomplishment for the team in taking a very relevant question from our surgical members through to a robust clinical trial. We look forward to seeing this open soon.
The rest of our portfolio is in good shape. The TROGled RAVES study continues to accrue and we remind our members to think of this study still when adjuvant radiation questions arise. Several concepts continue to be developed – I look forward to providing updates on these at the next teleconference. I remind everyone that these are open to all members of the subcommittee and I welcome feedback on the circulated minutes if you can’t make it to the teleconferences. SCOTT WILLIAMS Chair, Prostate Cancer Subcommittee
Renal Cell The RCC subcommittee has continued to meet quarterly by teleconference. The EVERSUN trial has now been closed out and the manuscript was published early in 2015 in Annals of Oncology. This was a milestone for ANZUP as the EVERSUN trial was the first concept to be generated and taken to completion through ANZUP. The SORCE adjuvant trial continues to follow patients on active treatment or follow-up. The negative results recently presented at the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium for the adjuvant ASSURE trial were disappointing, however SORCE has substantial differences from that study and the clinical question remains a very important one. Additionally, the patient preferences PAS in SORCE sub study led by Prunella Blinman and Martin Stockler is a unique opportunity to assess this often-unmeasured “cost” of treatment in terms of toxicity. The Concept Development Workshop on 21 November 2014 led to several possible new initiatives that are currently being polished for further discussion and maturation, including identification of potential funding sources. Again these ideas are based on our understanding of the science and our recognition of ANZUP UPdate | 17
Renal Cell continued areas of clinical needs and gaps in the evidence. We hope to be able to present more news on these soon. Recent months have seen the PBS reimbursement of two relevant drugs for RCC for second-line therapy: everolimus and sorafenib. It is gratifying that we now have funded options in first and second line, but we cannot be complacent: we need more and better options and clinical trials continue to be required as key options for patients at all points in their disease course. The Renal Cell Cancer subcommittee welcomes new members and ideas for new studies. We are also looking for suitable renal CAP members so please get in touch if you or a patient would be suitable. IAN DAVIS Chair, RCC subcommittee
Quality of Life and Supportive Care Living Well with Prostate Cancer The NHMRC-funded Living Well with Prostate Cancer Project has now completed recruitment, reaching our target of 190 consented participants. This project is trialling the effectiveness of a mindfulnessbased cognitive therapy (MBCT) group intervention over the telephone for men with advanced prostate cancer. We are now running the final mindfulness groups and will continue to collect follow-up data throughout 2015. Cancer Council Queensland and Griffith University would like to thank all the ANZUP members involved with the project and all our recruiting sites for your hard work referring patients. If you would like any more information about the project, please contact the Project Manager, Rob McDowall, on (07) 3634 5314 or email robmcdowall@cancerqld.org.au. Sexual Wellbeing and Quality of Life after Prostate Cancer for Gay and Bisexual Men and their Partners 18 | ANZUP UPdate
Quality of Life and Supportive Care continued The Prostate Cancer in Gay and Bisexual Men and their Partners Study aims to gain knowledge and understanding of how prostate cancer affects sexual wellbeing and quality of life in gay and bisexual men and their partners. The study has successfully recruited 137 gay and bisexual men and 27 male partners to complete the study survey. In addition, 46 gay and bisexual men and 7 male partners have participated in an interview in order to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences. Additionally, 239 surveys and 19 interviews have been completed by heterosexual men. The purpose of this heterosexual comparison sample is to allow for greater insight into the specific needs and experiences of gay, bisexual, and heterosexual men to inform more targeted health care provision and ongoing support post cancer. The study has now ceased recruiting participants. Preliminary data analysis has commenced. The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and University of Western Sydney would like to thank all ANZUP members involved in the development of the study and for referring participants. SUZANNE CHAMBERS Chair, Quality of Life and Supportive Care Committee
Correlative and Translational Research New Free ClinTrial Refer ANZUP App The ClinTrial Refer ANZUP app provides a current list of clinical research trials conducted in cancer centres in Australia and New Zealand. Designed for oncologists, general practitioners, research unit staff and patients, ClinTrial Refer ANZUP has searchable clinical research trial details, hospital locations and contacts, and inclusion and exclusion criteria. Analytics have shown that we have 80.7% returning visitors which indicates it is being used regularly with 76% of users coming from Australia. To download free, please visit: Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au /app/clintrial-refer-anzup/id894317413?mt=8 Google Play: https://play.google.com/ store/apps/details?id=com.lps.anzup&hl=en
ClinTri
a
l Refe Austral r ia Urogen n & New Zea la ital an d Prost nd Cance at r Trials e Group
Correlative and Translational Research The translational and correlative committee met via teleconference on Wed 29th April together with international researchers and representatives involved in the ENZAMET and ENZARAD trials. Chaired by Prof. Ian Davis, a fruitful first discussion ensued. With approximately 10% recruitment for both studies completed, confidence was high that sufficient translational and biological questions could be answered with materials being collected (FFPE, whole blood, serum, plasma). No specific ideas were discussed, but the group encouraged all investigators to continue to collect these materials as accurately as possible so that high quality translational research would be possible. There are many (but not unlimited!) questions in regards to these two important studies that can be addressed, and there was also some discussion about further collaboration and pooling of resources from other major international trials being conducted. We anticipate a call for those interested in various aspects of prostate biology to form working groups to consider what questions and what materials might be required over the next 6 months. PAUL DE SOUZA Chair, Correlative and Translational Research Committee
Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP) The year has started in a very mixed way as sadly for ANZUP we had one of our CAP members Matt Carr pass away on 31st January 2015 after his testicular cancer relapsed. Matt was a valued member of our CAP with a big personality and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Matt’s death also reminds us why we all volunteer with ANZUP and it strengthens our resolve to continue to advocate for better treatments and outcomes for cancer patients and their families. On a positive note we are pleased to report that we have already achieved one of our objectives set for 2015 with the appointment of Ray Allen as Deputy Chair of the CAP. Ray is an active CAP member participating in the Prostate Fundraising and Promotions sub-committee and we are grateful for him taking on this role. We continue to support ANZUP research activities, across areas such as the patient consent form reviews and grant submissions and disease sub-committee meetings. CAP members at the various sub-committee meetings have highlighted our need for consumers in kidney, bladder and testicular cancer and we still need your help in identifying suitable consumers within your patient population. Please contact Marg if you think that you can help and thank those members who have provided leads so far. Your ongoing support with this is greatly appreciated. The CAP is also developing a set of priority projects that they will work on over the next 12-24 months. This will be a work in progress over an extended period and we are looking forward to working on this as a group and reporting back. Planning has commenced for the CAP Education Session in July and I believe that it is heading in the right direction for a group that is now more experienced with most of us heading into our 4th ASM. This is always a very valuable meeting for us and we are looking forward to catching up with everyone in July. We also encourage members particularly in NSW to consider their patients to come along to the Community Engagement Forum which is part of the upcoming ASM. This forum is a great way for patients to hear the latest research and find out more about clinical trials. BELINDA JAGO Chair, Consumer Advisory Panel
ANZUP UPdate | 19
OTHER NEWS
Concept Development Workshops supported by Below the Belt Pedalthon In November 2014 four concept development workshops held over two days took place in Sydney. It was the first time ANZUP had been able to bring these workshops together. The funding to allow this to happen came directly from the inaugural Below the Belt Challenge.
Participants from around Australia and New Zealand in Sydney for the inaugural two day Concept Development Workshop
In 2015, our corporate and community partners will join us on Tuesday 1 September at Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek to do it all again. We are looking forward to welcoming more than 40 teams whose riding and fundraising efforts will once again provide much needed untied funding to ANZUP. Race Founder Simon Clarke said, “I am delighted to be involved in the Pedalthon again and am so proud of the $225,000 we were able to donate to ANZUP last year. I encourage all ANZUP members to support the ride by either riding in a team or sponsoring the ANZUP/CTC teams”. Simon has been seconded to New York for a year but is still actively involved in pursuing sponsors and additional teams. We are very grateful to Simon and the Clarke and Jones families for their financial support and the time they are committing to the ride.
Craig Gedye presenting is concept “Single arm phase I/II biomarker enriched trial of safety, tolerability and activity of metronomic vinorelbine (Navelbine®) in patients with pre-treated metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma
The race is unique in style as it is focussed on the corporate sector, is on a closed circuit and is all over in one day. Teams pay a registration fee of $2,000, and each rider is asked to raise at least $500. Last year, some teams were supported by matched giving in addition to their individual fundraising; please keep that in mind if you have any interested family members or any friends in Sydney based corporates. Further details about the Pedalthon can be found at www.belowthebelt.org.au. 20 | ANZUP UPdate
CTC’s Karen Bracken (Sydney), Trial Nurse Co-ordinator Kath Schubach (Melbourne) and Urological Registrar Steve McCombie (Perth)
OTHER NEWS continued
ANZUP Membership benefits include: • Access to a multidisciplinary network for Urogenital and Prostate cancer researchers, including clinicians, nurses, psychologists, scientists, allied health and consumer representatives • Opportunity to contribute to the scientific and strategic development of ANZUP through its SAC and subcommittees • Support for the development of investigator-initiated studies
• Mentoring and support of young investigators across all our research activities • ANZUP newsletter UPdate and regular sector news updates • Discounted registration at ANZUP’s annual scientific meeting • Access to educational resources, workshops and seminars • Access to grant opportunities • Voting rights at ANZUP annual general meeting and other general meetings
• Other benefits that will be extended from time to time for members only Please join the group and take advantage of the many opportunities for training and mentorship. Maybe you’ll be a future leader of genitourinary cancer research, and maybe you’ll make the current leaders less crusty. There is no membership fee and membership does not need to be renewed annually. Find out more http:// www.anzup.org.au/members.aspx.
Upcoming 2015 Events MAY 17
Sydney Half Marathon ANZUP fundraiser http://www.smhhalfmarathon.com.au
MAY 29 - JUNE 2
2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, Chicago http://am.asco.org/
JUNE 14 - 16
Cancer Nurses Society Winter Congress, Perth http://www.cnsawintercongress.com.au/
JULY 12 - 14
ANZUP ASM Sydney http://www.anzup.org.au/content.aspx?page=asm-home
AUG 17 - 21
The Prostate Cancer World Congress, Cairns http://prostatecancercongress.org.au/
SEPT 1
Below the Belt Pedalthon ANZUP fundraiser Sydney http://www.belowthebelt.org.au/
International Cancer Imaging Society Meeting, London http://www.icimagingsociety.org.uk/ OCT 5 - 7 index.cfm?task=meetings&meetingid=76 OCT 21
Best of GU, Brisbane - More details to come!
OCT 29 - NOV 1
he Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists’ 2015 Annual Scientific T Meeting Adelaide) http://www.ranzcr2015.com/
Clinical Oncology Society of Australia’s (COSA) Annual Scientific Meeting 2015 NOV 17 - 19 Hobart, www.cosa.org.au NOV 20 - 21 ANZUP Preceptorship in Prostate Cancer Melbourne http://www.anzup.org.au/content.aspx?page=preceptorship
ANZUP UPdate | 21
OTHER NEWS continued USANZ Conference Report The 68th Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) of the Urological Society of Australia & New Zealand (USANZ) was held at the Adelaide Convention Centre between 11 and 14 April, 2015. Convenor John Miller and Scientific program co-ordinator Dan Spernat developed an interesting and varied program covering the breadth of urological interests. The 800 attendees included urologists, trainees, nurses and a small but interested group of other specialties. The meeting began with a day of workshops, including the first ever conjoint USANZ-ANZUP workshop on Clinical Trial Development. Generously sponsored by Astra Zeneca, the workshop was chaired by Martin Stockler, with Dickon Hayne and Venu Chalasani being the other faculty members. Approximately twenty registrants, including trainees and consultants from Australia, New Zealand and a number of other countries, were taken along the pathway from an idea to developing a clinical trial in the first half of the workshop. The remainder of the workshop then discussed various case studies, including recently developed ANZUP trials and trial concepts brought forward from the audience. The workshop was very well received and represents yet another achievement in the collaboration between ANZUP and USANZ. Later in the day, the ANZUP bladder cancer subcommittee utilized the availability of many interested members to hold a very productive meeting focused on developing the OPTIMUM and ACCEPT trials. OPTIMUM, led by Martin Stockler, aims to implement a factorial trial design to examine adjuvant vs neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (and accelerated MVAC vs Gem-Cis as regimes) with cystectomy for the treatment of invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Application for funding is currently under review. ACCEPT, led by Dickon
22 | ANZUP UPdate
Hayne, is a proposed trial of early recovery measures after cystectomy, which may ideally be added on to OPTIMUM in due course. ANZUP thanks USANZ for facilitating the trial development meeting. The main scientific program of the ASM kicked off with back-to-back plenary sessions on Sunday morning. Topics relevant to GU oncology included recent developments in managing bladder cancer and a panel discussion on management of small renal masses. Sunday afternoon saw the ANZUP session on urooncology, carrying on an initiative that started from the 2014 ASM in Brisbane. Chaired by Dickon Hayne and Shomik Sengupta, the session began with an introduction to ANZUP, highlighting its portfolio of trials, particularly the surgically relevant trials – SORCE, RAVES and BCG-MMC. The remainder of the session focused on the multi-disciplinary management of prostate cancer, featuring James Eastham, urologist from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, on surgery for high-risk prostate cancer, Alberto Bossi, radiation oncologist from Villejuis, on radiotherapy for high-risk prostate cancer and Francis Parnis, medical oncologist from Adelaide, speaking on systemic therapy for metastatic prostate cancer. The quality of this session was greatly appreciated by the sizable audience, and planning is already underway to include a similar session in the 2016 ASM. The remainder of the scientific program featured a number of other sessions on urological oncology. Highlights included the neoadjuvant use of tyrosinekinase inhibitors for renal cancer, current role of cytoreductive nephrectomy, management of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and PSMA PET for prostate cancer. The USANZ ASM continues to build as a world class meeting, and the 2016 meeting at the Gold Coast Convention Centre promises to be bigger and better again. SHOMIK SENGUPTA
REGISTER NOW
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FORUM
SOFITEL SYDNEY WENTWORTH SUNDAY 12 JULY 2015 1PM – 4PM FREE ENTRY BUT BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL www.anzup.org.au
The forum will provide the public with information on ANZUP and the importance of clinical trials in improving treatment for people diagnosed with prostate, bladder, kidney or testicular cancer.
The Newsletter of ANZUP Cancer Trials Group Limited
Thankyou to our 2015 Corporate Supporters We are very grateful for the infrastructure support we receive from Cancer Australia however the funds are not sufficient to support ANZUP’s increasing research activities. In 2012 we established our Corporate Supporter program and are delighted that this program has continued to grow. Through this program we have made significant inroads to supporting and facilitating better engagement with our members. We welcome and acknowledge our corporate supporters and partners for 2015.
WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT
ANZUP Cancer Trials Group Limited Locked Bag 77, Camperdown NSW 1450 Lifehouse Building, Level 6 119-143 Missenden Rd Camperdown NSW 2050 Tel: +61 2 9562 5033 Email: info@anzup.org.au www.anzup.org.au
