Can the time it takes to treat breast cancer be cut dramatically?
Karen Spataro Jun 09, 2018

IU researcher testing whether chemo and radiation can be delivered concurrently<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zstrong"><~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zem"><~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zspan"><~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">
Just like every other year, Sandra Chapman went in for her annual mammogram in October 2016. But this time, something was different. A few days later, she got a call. Doctors had spotted a pea-sized spot and wanted to take a closer look.<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">
In the weeks that followed, Chapman underwent additional imaging tests and a biopsy.<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">
Sandra Chapman and her son, Quentin Taylor, a guard on the IU basketball team<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp"><~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zdiv">
“The Monday after Thanksgiving, I was informed it was cancerous,” said Chapman, a mother of three who is an investigative reporter for WTHR in Indianapolis. “That’s how it all started. It was a total surprise. I have no family history, and I get a mammogram every year. I’m very faithful about that.”<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">
About 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. For many, the therapy needed to rid them of their disease can last as long as a year, making it hard to leave a painful chapter behind. But Chapman completed her treatment— which included a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation—about five months after she was initially diagnosed, thanks to an innovative research trial being led by an Indiana University School of Medicine<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=za"> faculty member.<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">
Richard C. Zellars, MD<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=za">, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=za">, is experimenting with the delivery of existing therapies, with the aim of dramatically shortening the course of breast cancer treatment and reducing the likelihood of recurrence.<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">
“I’ve been treating women with breast cancer for more than 20 years, and I see every day how hard the treatment is on them and their families, both physically and emotionally,” said Zellars, a member of the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=za"> at IU School of Medicine. “I knew there had to be a way to do this better. We’ve done a lot to improve survival rates for women with breast cancer, but we have to do more to make the treatment itself more tolerable.”<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">
Indiana University School of Medicine established the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=za"> in June 2018 to develop therapies for some of the most difficult-to-treat types of breast cancer and to reduce life-altering side effects of treatment for the hundreds of thousands of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. <~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zspan"><~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zstrong"><~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp"> <~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zblockquote">
Chapman is an investigative reporter for WTHR in Indianapolis.<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp"><~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zdiv">
Chapman learned about the trial from her oncologist, IU School of Medicine professor Kathy Miller, MD<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=za">, and decided to enroll based on promising preliminary results. She underwent her last treatment session on April 27, 2017. If she had undergone standard therapy, she would have likely remained in therapy until late August.<~ ink.aspx?_id="92302C6E9AFF496F9C96F9952B50ABB7&_z=zp">

Karen Spataro
Director of Strategic Communications