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Dr. Harry D. Bear, a leading physician-researcher with VCU Massey Cancer Center, received the Distinguished Investigator Lifetime Achievement Award from the NSABP Foundation, Inc.

During the past two decades, Bear, a researcher and surgeon, has led international trials that have resulted in major changes in the treatment of breast cancer and dramatically increased the chance for breast conservation among women with breast cancer.

 “This award reflects not only Dr. Bear’s commitment to excellence in research and patient care at Massey, but to advancing treatment for breast cancer nationally and internationally,” said Dr. Gordon D. Ginder, director of VCU Massey Cancer Center.

The NSABP is a national cooperative group that develops and conducts clinical studies to improve treatments and outcomes for breast and colorectal cancers. Its acronym stands for the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project.

Of the 700 NSABP member institutions in North America, Bear has led Massey to be one of the top 10 members in terms of enrollment of patients in studies. His research team has been cited for providing excellent follow-up and reporting for all patients who have enrolled in NSABP studies. The Massey Cancer Center is affiliated with NSABP through its Minority-Based Community Clinical Oncology Program grant.

Bear became a research investigator with NSABP in 1984, and has held several leadership positions with the organization. He served as study chair for two major NSABP-sponsored clinical studies, B-27 and B40, and has been part of working groups for several other studies.  He also has served on NSABP’s Board of Directors since 1991, and served on several other committees that develop protocols for trials.

Bear also is a Ph.D.-trained immunologist who has pursued NIH-funded laboratory research for more than 20 years. He co-leads Massey’s immune mechanisms research program, one of the center’s core cancer research programs. In addition, he has served as medical director of Massey’s Breast Health Center since 1993, leading a multi-disciplinary team in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. He also chairs the Division of Surgical Oncology at the VCU School of Medicine, and holds the Walter J. Lawrence Jr. Distinguished Professorship in Oncology.

He received the award during a ceremony held in San Diego, California on May 2.

About Massey and the NSABP

The VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of 65 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions that leads and shapes America’s cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials, and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It offers more clinical trials than any other institution in Virginia, serving patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at www.massey.vcu.edu or call 1-877-4-MASSEY.

The NSABP Foundation, Inc., has a 50-year history of designing and conducting clinical trials that have changed the standard of treatment in breast and colorectal cancer. As a not-for-profit clinical trials cooperative, it’s supported primarily through grants from the National Cancer Institute and in part from the Tobacco Settlement Act and other sources. It pioneered breast cancer studies that led to the establishment of lumpectomy plus radiation over mastectomy as the standard surgical treatment for breast cancer. It also was the first to demonstrate that adjuvant therapy (treatment in addition to surgery) could alter the natural history of breast cancer, increasing survival rates, and demonstrating on a large scale the preventive effects of the drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene in reducing rates of invasive breast cancer.