Cancer ghosting – when friends and loved ones cease all contact after a cancer diagnosis – is a common and extremely painful experience for many people diagnosed with breast cancer. Listen to the podcast to hear Kelly explain: why some people ghost people with cancer how frequently cancer ghosting happens the best ways to respond to cancer ghosting ..read more

Dr. Thaddeus Pace is one of the leaders of the Breast Cancer SUPORT (Survivors and Partners Online Research Together) Project, which is studying how cognitively-based compassion training, a specific type of guided meditation, can help women with a history of breast cancer, as well as their partners. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Pace explain: the differences between cognitively-based compassion training and other types of meditation the benefits of cognitively-based compassion training the goals of the Breast Cancer SUPORT Project and how people can join the study, if they’d like to do so ..read more

In a paper published in JAMA Oncology, Dr. Erik Eckert, of Stanford, and his colleagues found that LGBTQ people with breast cancer faces delays in diagnosis and have a three times higher risk of recurrence than heterosexual cisgender people. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Eckhert discuss: the discrimination LGBTQ+ people face when going to doctor’s appointments and other healthcare visits why he decided to do the study and what the results were the next steps for this research how LGBTQ+ people can make sure they’re getting the best and most appropriate care, whether it’s for breast cancer ..read more

Although Black women are less like to be diagnosed with breast cancer than white women, they are more likely to die if they do develop the disease. Much of Dr. Kent Hoskins’ research focuses on trying to figure out the factors behind this difference in survival. He was the lead author of a paper in the journal JAMA Oncology that found that both the characteristics of a breast cancer, as well the environment in which women live, contribute equally to this survival disparity. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Hoskins explain: when survival differences were first noticed what social determinants ..read more

Dr. G. Thomas Budd, an oncologist and Dr. Justin Johnson, an immunologist, are collaborating on research looking at a vaccine to prevent triple-negative breast cancer. Their very early studies in mouse models were successful and now they’ve started two small, early studies in people. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Budd and Dr. Johnson explain: how a cancer vaccine would work in general how their vaccine works side effects the vaccine may cause how long they think it will take before a vaccine is available for approval ..read more

Dr. Sarah Tevis recently conducted a study that found that many women who receive breast cancer treatment have side effects that affect their sexual health. While doctors usually talk to women about possible fertility and menopausal side effects, other common side effects, including vaginal dryness, body image issues, and lack of desire aren’t mentioned. The results also showed that women have specific preferences on how this type of sensitive information should be presented. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Tevis explain: why it’s difficult for women to bring up sexual health side effects w ..read more

Medical aid in dying laws, also called death with dignity laws, physician-assisted suicide laws, and right-to-die laws, are difficult for some people to think about, but for others they’re hugely important. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. McGeehan explain: the history of how medical aid in dying laws came about the checks and balances in place to ensure the laws are used ethically the costs associated with using the laws ..read more

Women with a higher-than-average risk of breast cancer often take tamoxifen to reduce that risk. There are a number of reasons why a woman might have a higher risk of breast cancer, including receiving chest radiation for childhood cancer, such as Hodgkin lymphoma. Dr. Sandhya Pruthi joined us to discuss a study looking at whether a lower dose of tamoxifen helps reduce breast cancer risk in women who received radiation to the chest as children. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Pruthi explain: why women who received childhood chest radiation have a higher risk of breast cancer how the study c ..read more

At the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, metastatic breast cancer advocate Beth Fairchild sat down with us to talk about her new organization, Cancer Culture, and what it aims to do. Listen to the podcast to hear Beth discuss: why being an advocate is important to her how and why Cancer Culture was created the work Cancer Culture created for the #ThisIsMBC campaign ..read more

Researchers are always looking for new treatments for advanced-stage breast cancer. Dr. Nicholas Turner explains the results of the CAPitello-291 trial, looking capivasertib, an experimental targeted therapy medicine, in combination with Faslodex (chemical name: fulvestrant) as a treatment for advanced-stage, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that has become resistant to the aromatase inhibitors. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Turner explain: how capivasertib works the results of the CAPitello-291 trial how capivasertib worked on cancers previously treated with a CDK4 ..read more