I-Spy

A precursor study called I-Spy 1 showed that 30% of patients who got that regimen saw their tumors disappear completely.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

A faint slap sounds again in my mind as my brain high-fives itself and ticks off another box in its I-Spy pamphlet.

Up front: Eva Wiseman Eva Wiseman 2010

Anderson, an expert in a new approach to clinical trials called "adaptive design," to plan I-Spy 2.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

Using the latest advances in genetics, I-Spy 2 aims to match experimental drugs with the molecular makeup of tumors most likely to respond to them.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

In I-Spy 2, researchers use an MRI to evaluate a tumor's response to a drug early in the trial and get a definitive answer at surgery.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

"Unless we do something different, people are going to give up on doing trials" for cancer, says Laura Esserman, director of the breast-care center at University of California, San Francisco, and co-leader of I-Spy 2.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

The trial, called I-Spy 2, employs several innovative approaches to improve the notoriously slow and inefficient process of developing new cancer drugs.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

Eric Winer, the director of breast oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, is not involved with I-Spy.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

Even if I-Spy 2 succeeds in showing that compounds have a high probability of success in small late-stage studies, it isn't clear yet whether or how the FDA's regulatory system would then enable faster drug approval.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010

I-Spy 2's effort to bring much higher standards of productivity to cancer-drug development is inspired partly by Dr. Esserman's experience at business school.

A New Rx for Medicine Ron Winslow 2010