Breastcancer.org Podcast

Breast cancers that are lymph node-positive are usually treated with chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy). If those cancers become lymph node-negative after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, there’s been a debate about whether to treat the nodes or not. A new study has practicing-changing results: Nodal radiation isn’t need. Dr. Marisa Weiss, Breastcancer.org chief medical officer and founder, and radiation oncologist, explains the findings. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Weiss explain: why there has been debate about how to treat this type of breast cancer the study results what the results mean for patients

CDK4/6 inhibitors are used to treat both early-stage and advanced-stage hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The CDK4/6 inhibitors are: Ibrance (chemical name: palbociclib) Kisqali (chemical name: ribociclib) Verzenio (chemical name: abemaciclib) At the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dr. Stephanie Graff moderated an educational session to help people and their doctors decide on treatments after a CDK4/6 inhibitor has stopped working. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Graff explain: how the oral SERD, Orserdu (chemical name: elacestrant), might be used how PARP inhibitors, such as Lynparza (chemical name: olaparib) or Talzenna (chemical name: talazoparib) might be used why using a CDK4/6 inhibitor after another CDK4/6 inhibitor probably won’t be used

Living with metastatic breast cancer can bring many losses: not being able to ride bike, missing events, losing friends, just to name a few. This podcast is the audio from a special Virtual Community Meetup featuring guest moderator Kelly Grosklags. Listen to the podcast to hear Kelly and Community members discuss: how to move away from the “what if” to the “what is” what to say to friends that don’t understand your involvement in metastatic support groups how they learned to live with metastatic disease

Lobular breast cancer is cancer that starts in the lobules, the glands in the breast that produce milk. Lobular breast cancer is the second most common breast cancer, accounting for about 10% of breast cases in the United States. Lobular breast cancer doesn’t always form a lump and can spread to areas of the body different from ductal breast cancer, such as the abdominal lining or the tissue around the kidneys or the eyes. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Jochelson explain: why lobular breast cancer is harder to see on mammograms the imaging tests used to figure out if lobular breast cancer has spread to other areas of the body the difference between a FES PET scan and a FDG PET scan

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2023 Congress Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, chaired a session titled, “Pregnancy After Breast Cancer: Is It Safe?” Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Partridge discuss: why oncologists are concerned about pregnancy after breast cancer what the most recent research shows, including results from the POSITIVE trial, which she led the things women need to consider if they want to have a child after breast cancer treatment

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2023 Congress in Madrid, Spain, Dr. Henry Kuerer presented results from a study looking at whether some women diagnosed with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer or early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer could skip surgery if they had a pathologic complete response to chemotherapy before surgery. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Kuerer explain: what a pathologic complete response is why no women diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive disease were in the study the results of the study what the next steps are for this research

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2023 Congress Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, presented results from the TROPION-Breast01 trial, which is comparing a new antibody-drug conjugate, datopotamab-deruxtecan (dato-DXd), to doctors’ choice of chemotherapy for inoperable or metastatic, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that had grown while being treated with hormonal therapy and also had been treated with chemotherapy. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Bardia explain: what an antibody-drug conjugate is the design of the TROPION-Breast01 study and the first results dato-DXd side effects how dato-DXd might fit into the current treatment landscape for metastatic breast cancer

Finding the words to talk to children about metastatic breast cancer can be very difficult. This podcast is the audio from a special Virtual Community Meetup featuring guest moderator Kelly Grosklags. Listen to the podcast to hear Kelly explain: why it’s important to use words like “cancer” and “medicine” when talking to children what children of different ages need to know and hear how to discuss death with children and how to reassure them that they’ll be taken care of

Biomarkers are molecules that help doctors distinguish breast cancer cells from healthy cells. In general, there are three broad categories of breast cancer biomarkers: biomarkers that every breast cancer is tested for biomarkers that may be tested for, depending on the characteristics of the cancer biomarkers that are being studied Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Tripathy explain: biomarker tests that are always done biomarker tests that might be done, the types of breast cancer they’re done on, as well as when they’re done and why they’re done experimental biomarkers and how they might be used

Many people diagnosed with breast cancer decide to use cannabis to ease side effects such as pain, nausea and vomiting.  Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Weiss explain: the two main compounds in cannabis the symptoms and side effects cannabis has been shown to help how to find a dispensary that meets your needs the top three things to consider if you want to try medical cannabis