The NCI Breast Cancer Steering Committee (BCSC) was established in September 2008. At monthly meetings, it addresses the design, prioritization, and evaluation of concepts for phase 2 and phase 3 treatment trials in adult breast cancer. View the BCSC member roster as of November 7, 2025. The committee may periodically hold clinical trials planning meetings (CTPMs) to focus on specific clinical trial related topics.
Committee Highlights
The following are highlights from recent committee activities:
- Identification and Treatment of Patients at Risk for Late Recurrence of ER+ Breast Cancer
Estrogen Receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer patients, especially those with nodal involvement, face a significant risk of late recurrence and associated poor clinical outcomes. More than half of recurrences occur beyond five years after diagnosis. Although treatment with chemotherapy and adjuvant endocrine therapy may have some benefit, they provide a minimal reduction in absolute risk and cause side effects that impact patient quality of life. The BCSC held a CTPM in May 2019 to lay the the framework for the development of a clinical trial to test an intervention for patients at high risk of late recurrence of ER+ breast cancer. Read the executive summary. - Omitting Surgery in Patients with Complete Clinical/Radiologic Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: A Paradigm Shift
Certain subtypes of breast cancer patients (triple-negative and HER2 positive) have high rates of pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant systemic therapy (43-67%). Patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy who achieve a pathologic complete response have a very low rate of local recurrence and excellent overall survival, leading to an interest in the concept of eliminating surgery in these patients. Prior studies have suggested that it may be feasible to omit surgery but were not performed using current systemic therapy regimens or imaging techniques. Current and prior data set the stage for a trial that will definitively determine whether it is safe to omit surgery in patients that are predicted to have a high probability of pCR. The BCSC held a CTPM in October 2017 to to develop design recommendations for a clinical trial to determine if surgery can be omitted for a subset of breast cancer patients who have a complete clinical/radiologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Read the executive summary. - Common Data Elements and Case Report Forms for Breast Cancer Clinical Trials
In 2014, the BCSC developed case report forms for localized breast cancer trials using a comprehensive set of breast cancer common data elements to improve data management. View our step-by-step instructions.
Contact
For more information, contact NCI CCCT Program Director, Laurie Shuman Moss, Ph.D., at laurie.shumanmoss@nih.gov.