Breast Cancer Trials
We look forward to an in-person meeting, offering the opportunity for colleagues and Breast Cancer Trials members to connect in Hobart, Tasmania for #BCT2025. The registration desk will be open from 8:00 AM Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Professor Elgene Lim Presenting at the 2023 ASM in Auckland
Breast Cancer Trials (BCT) is a world-leading clinical trials research organisation, dedicated to finding new and better treatments and prevention strategies for people affected by this disease. Our research program involves multicentre national and international clinical trials and brings together more than 980 researchers across 118 institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand.
This is the official website for our 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM), and this year is the 46th year of the conference, which will be held in Hobart, Tasmania. Our ASM hosts a number of internationally renowned guest speakers including key BCT researchers. Delegates include leading Australian and New Zealand medical practitioners, clinicians, and clinical trials management personnel.
The full and extensive program will include two days of scientific sessions covering timely reviews of breast cancer clinical trials, discussion of new protocols, future clinical trials research, and other research developments. The program will also include abstracts, and debates, and is followed by a Trainee and Early Career day on Saturday.
Thank you to Daiichi-Sankyo | AstraZeneca for being our Platinum Sponsor at #BCT2025. Click here for more information about sponsorship opportunities at our upcoming conference.
The BCT ASM is not open to the general public to attend.
The conference website undergoes regular updates to provide attendees with the latest information regarding the program, esteemed guest speakers, grant and awards opportunities, as well as registration updates. We encourage you to revisit the site at a later date for the most up-to-date information. Please note this is a preliminary program and is subject to change.
Our annual Trials Coordination Forum is a fantastic opportunity for BCT staff and their colleagues from member sites to meet in a relaxed, educational, and informative environment.
This is a closed meeting for CAP members only.
Roche will hold a Lunch Symposium on Wednesday 23 July. Click here to find out more.
A Concept Development Workshop will be held by BCT at the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting, to provide an opportunity for BCT members and non-members to present new research ideas.
Join us as our panel of experts, moderated by Author and Journalist, Annabel Crabb, explore innovative new research that is helping to reshape patient support and improve patient quality of life during breast cancer treatment. Click here to find out more.
Annabel Crabb
Belinda Kiely
Cindy Tan
Kathleene Dower
Lesley Fallowfield
Leslie Gilham
Lisa Beatty
Lilly will hold a Dinner Symposium on Wednesday 23 July following the Q&A. Click here to find out more.
The Faculty Dinner is for invitees only. Please note, the dress code for the Faculty Dinner is smart casual.
Novartis will hold a Breakfast Symposium on Thursday 24 July. This will run concurrently to BCAL Diagnostics though will target Medical Oncologists, not Surgeons. Click here to find out more.
Stephen Chia
BCAL Diagnostics will hold a breakfast symposium on Thursday 24 July. This will run concurrently to Novartis though will target Surgeons, not Medical Oncologists. Click here to find out more.
Daiichi-Sankyo | AstraZeneca will hold a Lunch Symposium on Thursday 24 July. Click here to find out more.
Javier Cortes
This meeting is open to Breast Cancer Trials members only.
The Conference Dinner will be hosted at Glen Albyn Estate, and buses will be available to take attendees from the hotel to the Conference Dinner, see below for bus departure times:
Please note, the dress code for the Conference Dinner is cocktail.
Pfizer will hold a Breakfast Symposium on Friday 25 July. Click here to find out more.
Adam Brufsky
GILEAD will hold a Lunch Symposium on Friday 25 July. Click here to find out more.
The Trainee and Early Career dinner will be held at the Waterline restaurant. Professor Reshma Jagsi will be the presenter at the T&EC dinner.
Reshma Jagsi
Trainees and those in the early stage of their careers, in medical oncology, radiation oncology, and surgical oncology are invited to attend the free BCT Trainee and Early Career Day, at the 46th ASM. Click here for more information about the session.
Sandy Simon
Michelle Li
Adam Ofri
Lesley Fallowfield
Michael Jones
Adam Brufsky
Shelley Potter
Martha Hickey
Lesley Stafford
Louise Nott
Sunit Sarkar
Michael Jones
Sanjay Warrier
Emma Crowley
Sanjeev Kumar
Sanjay Warrier
Sarita Bahure
Nick Zdenkowski
Sandy Simon
Michelle Li
Adam Ofri
This award recognises a member of BCT who has made an outstanding contribution to our clinical trials research program.
This award recognises a Translational Researcher and their achievements and contributions to improved patient outcomes.
This award was established to encourage potential academic breast cancer surgeons to become involved in clinical trials research.
These grants recognise full members of BCT who are unable to access institutional funding to attend the ASM.
There are many benefits to becoming a member of BCT, including reduced registration at the ASM each year. All membership applications need to be received and supported by two proposers by Tuesday 13th May 2025 to be eligible to receive discounted registration for the 2025 ASM. The outcome of applications will be provided on Friday 23rd May 2025. Any memberships received after this date, will not be eligible for discount registration rates for the 2025 ASM.
There are two BCT membership categories: Full Member and Affiliate Member. A Full Member is deemed by the Board to be or will be directly involved in the conduct of the BCT research program. An Affiliate Member is deemed by the Board to have an interest in and awareness of BCT, and its’ research activities, but who is not involved in the conduct of the BCT’s research program.
If you would like more information or to apply for a membership, visit the link below.
The ASM brings together BCT members, breast cancer researchers, and those involved in the conduct of clinical trials, to learn more about recent advances in breast cancer research worldwide and to learn about the developments in BCT clinical trials.
International Guest Speaker
Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield is Professor of Psycho-oncology at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex where she is Director of the Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C) group.
Dame Lesley originally trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital, London but then did a BSc in Experimental Psychology at Sussex. Research for her doctorate examining the perceptual correlates of optic nerve damage in demyelinating diseases was completed at the Universities of Sussex and Cambridge.
In 1991 she became the full-time Director of a Psychosocial Oncology Group and in 1997 was awarded the first European Chair in Psycho-oncology from University College, London. Her research interests are wide and include the measurement of quality of life in clinical trials of cancer therapy and the training of communication skills for health care professionals in cancer.
She has published over 500 papers, many book chapters, 3 textbooks and numerous evidence-based educational materials for the teaching of communication skills. She lectures and runs training workshops throughout the world in psychosocial oncology, quality of life assessment and communication skills.
She is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Cancer Physicians UK and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2016.
International Guest Speaker
Professor Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., is the Lawrence W. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and a Senior Faculty Fellow in the Center for Ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
A graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Oxford, where she earned her DPhil in Social Policy as a Marshall Scholar, she is the author of over 450 publications regarding both breast cancer and bioethics. She is the PI of multiple grants from the US National Institutes of Health, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and other philanthropic foundations. Both a clinical trialist and health services researcher, she is known for research to strengthen autonomy in breast cancer patients and to individualize breast cancer care.
Inspired by the patients she encounters as a radiation oncologist who treats patients with breast cancer, she leads multicenter randomized trials of forgoing radiotherapy in lower-risk patients, intensifying it in patients with more aggressive disease, and enhancing patient-centered communication. She also investigates women’s under-representation in senior positions in academic medicine and the mechanisms that must be targeted to promote equity.
Active in organized medicine, she serves on the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the US NIH Advisory Committee for Research on Women’s Health, the Steering Committee of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists Collaborative Group and the Lancet’s Breast Cancer Commission.
She has received many honors, including the AAMC Group on Women in Science and Medicine’s Leadership Award, LEAD Oncology’s Woman of the Year Award, ASTRO’s inaugural Mentorship Award, AMSA’s Women Leaders in Medicine Award, AWiS’s Meridian Award, AMA’s Inspiration Award, AMWA’s Woman in Science Award, and AAWR’s Marie Curie Award.
Her contributions have also been recognized with her election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians, and she is a fellow of the AAAS, ASCO, ASTRO, AAWR, and the Hastings Center.
International Guest Speaker
Shelley Potter is Professor of Surgical Oncology at Bristol Medical School and Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon at North Bristol NHS Trust.
She attended Bristol Medical School and completed Basic Surgical Training in Bristol before completing a PhD exploring the feasibility of clinical trials in breast reconstruction. She completed her Higher Surgical Training as an Academic Clinical Lecturer in the Severn Deanery before being awarded a highly prestigious National Training Interface Group Oncoplastic Breast Surgery Fellowship in Liverpool. She returned to Bristol as an NIHR Clinician Scientist and Consultant Senior Lecturer in August 2017 and became a Professor in August 2023.
Her research focuses on improving outcomes for women undergoing breast cancer surgery through the design and delivery of high-quality, patient-centred collaborative research.
As a trainee and Chair of the Mammary Fold Academic and Research Collaborative (MFAC), she led several large-scale national collaborative breast surgery projects including iBRA, iBRA-2 and TeaM. These studies collectively recruited over 5,000 patients from over 80 centres across the UK and helped to establish an evidence base to support the practice of oncoplastic and reconstructive surgery. She is currently Chief Investigator for the Best-BRA, Brighter, ANTHEM and Pre-BRA studies.
More recently, she had developed an interest in breast cancer treatment de-escalation studies and is Chief Investigator for the NIHR HTA funded TADPOLE study which aims to compare targeted axillary dissection and axillary node clearance in patients with node positive breast cancer having primary surgery. She also co-led the recent BIG-NCTN PRECEDENT project which aimed to improve reporting of locoregional therapy in neoadjuvant systemic therapy trials by developing a core outcome set.
Her national roles include Royal College of Surgeons of England Surgical Specialty Lead in Breast Surgery and Secretary to the British Breast Group.
International Guest Speaker
Professor Stuart McIntosh is a Professor of Surgical Oncology at Queen’s University in Belfast, and a Consultant Breast Surgeon at Belfast City Hospital.
He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1993 and completed Basic Surgical Training in the South of Scotland, followed by a period as a Clinical Research Fellow in Glasgow and Cambridge. Higher Surgical Training in the North-East of Scotland was followed by a National Training Interface Group Oncoplastic Surgery Fellowship in Leeds.
Stuart returned to Aberdeen as a Consultant Breast Surgeon in 2005, before moving to Belfast in 2009. His growing research interests resulted in a move to an academic role in Queen’s University Belfast in 2015, and he became Professor in August 2023.
His clinical research interests are largely centered around neoadjuvant therapy and treatment de-escalation in early breast cancer. He is currently the Chief Investigator of the UK NIHR HTA-funded SMALL trial, a phase III multicentre randomised trial comparing standard surgery with vacuum-assisted excision for the treatment of small, good prognosis screen-detected breast cancers. He also has surgical leadership roles in several other ongoing UK systemic therapy de-escalation trials, including OPTIMA and HER2-RADiCAL. He co-led the recent BIG-NCTN PRECEDENT project to develop a core outcome set to improve the reporting of locoregional therapies in clinical trials of neoadjuvant systemic therapy.
His translational research interests lie in the area of the DNA damage immune response in breast cancer, and within Queen’s University is a joint holder of a Cancer Research UK Programme Foundation Award grant for this work.
Nationally, he has held a number of research leadership roles, including as Chair of the UK UK Breast Cancer Clinical Studies Group, which is responsible for overseeing the strategic development of the UK breast cancer clinical trials portfolio. Until recently, he was the Royal College of Surgeons Breast Surgical Specialty Lead, and he is also currently Chair of the British Breast Group. Closer to home, he is the Clinical Director of the Northern Ireland Cancer Trials Network, responsible for overseeing the delivery of cancer clinical research across five regional cancer hospitals to the 1.8 million population of Northern Ireland.
BCT is working to ensure that our annual conference is following environmentally sustainable practices through carbon offsetting our flights, re-using lanyards, and reducing paper waste through our conference website and app, which are used by our delegates and sponsors.
BCT is proud to be working with companies who share the same values when it comes to sustainability. Visit the links below to find out more about the sustainability practices of the Hobart Convention and Exhibition Centre, of which the Hotel Grand Chancellor falls under, and find out more about the sustainability practices we are implementing at Breast Cancer Trials.
For more information about Hobart, or for tips when it comes to planning your trip, click the button below.