BREAST CANCER RESEARCHER RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

Medical Oncologist Dr Nicholas Zdenkowski has been recognised with a prestigious Merit Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The Merit Awards are awarded to fellows and residents whose research is addressed in high-quality abstracts submitted to an ASCO Meeting and recognised for its scientific merit. Recipients of Merit Awards must be lead authors on the abstract and have the opportunity to present the abstract at the ASCO Annual Meeting, which will be held from 29 May to 2 June 2015 in Chicago in the United States.

Dr Zdenkowski will present the final analysis of the LATER clinical trial during the poster presentations at ASCO. This study was developed and conducted by researchers from the Australia and New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZBCTG), and led by the Study Co-Chairs Professor John Forbes AM and Professor Michael Green.

Dr Zdenkowski is a Clinical Fellow at the ANZBCTG based in Newcastle, NSW, and a Conjoint Lecturer at the University of Newcastle. He says the award recognises the collaboration in breast cancer clinical trials research.

“The success of clinical trials lies in the collaboration between women who participate in clinical trials, researchers and participating institutions, so I sincerely thank everyone for their involvement and their commitment to improving the standard of care for women diagnosed with breast cancer,” Dr Zdenkowski said.

“The LATER clinical trial was developed by Australian researchers, so it is an honour to represent this fantastic team of world class medical professionals at ASCO.”

Each year, ASCO brings together 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world, including leading Australian researchers and members of the ANZBCTG. Conference sessions include presentations of the latest research in oral and poster format. The theme for ASCO 2015 is Illumination and Innovation: Transforming Data in Learning.

The ANZBCTG is Australia’s national organisation dedicated entirely to breast cancer clinical trials research. It conducts a national clinical trials research program for the treatment, prevention and cure of breast cancer. The research program involves multicentre clinical trials and collaboration with more than 80 institutions and over 700 researchers throughout Australia and New Zealand. More than 14,000 women have participated in ANZBCTG breast cancer clinical trials. The ANZBCTG’s fundraising department is the Breast Cancer Institute of Australia.

For further information about the ANZBCTG and the Group’s clinical trials research program, visit www.anzbctg.org.

Media contact: To arrange an interview with Associate Professor Sherene Loi, please contact –

Media contact: Anna Fitzgerald, ANZBCTG Communications Manager

Phone: 02 4925 5255 or 0400 304 224 or Email: anna.fitzgerald@anzbctg.org