BCO Coverage of ASCO 2019

Moderators

Check out our coverage of the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting below!

Moderators

ASCO 2019: Diet, Exercise, and Breast Cancer Outcomes

June 1, 2019

Dr. Karen Basen-Engquist is professor of behavioral science and director of the Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Basen-Engquist's research focuses on cancer survivors and how health behavior interventions can reduce the severity of late-term side effects, improve physical function, optimize quality of life, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. She also studies ways to help people make behavior changes and ways to assess symptoms and behavior in cancer patients and survivors.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Basen-Engquist talk about:

• how to talk about diet and exercise with your doctor
• why exercise and maintaining a healthy weight should be part of every person's long-term cancer care
• how people who are feeling overwhelmed about having to make a lot of diet, weight, and exercise changes can start slowly to improve their health

Running time: 14:27

Listen now or read the transcript.

Moderators

Metabolite Markers -- Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting

June 1, 2019

Dr. Liz O'Day talks about a test her company is developing that uses metabolites in blood to assess whether a person with metastatic breast cancer will respond to CDK4/6 inhibitors.

Running time: 3:35

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Moderators

Live by Living -- Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting

June 1, 2019

Dan Miller, founder of Live by Living, explains how the organization offers free outdoor experiences to people diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers.

Running time: 2:34

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Moderators

ASCO 2019: The BWEL Study: Diet and Exercise in Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

June 2, 2019

Dr. Jennifer Ligibel is associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who treats breast cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Ligibel's research looks at the relationship between diet and exercise and breast cancer risk and prognosis. Her current project is the Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) study, which is looking at connections between exercise, diet, weight management, sleep, and health and wellness outcomes in women being treated for breast cancer.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Ligibel talk about:

• the progress of the BWEL study so far
• how the BWEL study is different from other studies that looked at low-fat diets and breast cancer
• why the BWEL study wants to examine methods that work best to help women diagnosed with breast cancer lose weight and exercise more

Running time: 16:44

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Moderators

ASCO 2019: Right to Try Legislation and Why Clinical Trial Entry Criteria Need to Change

June 2, 2019

Dr. Kelly Shanahan describes herself as a mother, wife, daughter, doctor, and woman living with metastatic breast cancer. Neuropathy from breast cancer treatment forced her to retire from her OB/GYN practice. She now works tirelessly as an independent metastatic breast cancer advocate. Dr. Shanahan was part of a panel on Right to Try Legislation at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. In this podcast, she explains Right to Try and Compassionate Use legislation and why she thinks the real answer is changing the criteria for enrolling in clinical trials.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Shanahan talk about:

• why she thinks Right to Try legislation is flawed
• how the common criteria for entering a clinical trial exclude a majority of people diagnosed with metastatic disease and how trials can be changed
• how she would proceed if her disease progressed and she didn't meet the eligibility criteria for an appropriate clinical trial

Running time: 25:12

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Moderators

Can a Low-Fat Diet Reduce the Risk of Dying From Breast Cancer? -- Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting

June 2, 2019

Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, explains the results of the latest analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative.

Running time: 2:50

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Moderators

ASCO 2019: Women Don't Need Reminders to Take Aromatase Inhibitors, They Need Better Treatments for Side Effects

June 3, 2019

A member of the Breastcancer.org Professional Advisory Board, Dr. Dawn Hershman leads the Breast Cancer Program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, where she is professor of medicine and epidemiology. Dr. Hershman is a nationally recognized expert in breast cancer treatment, prevention, and survivorship.

At this ASCO annual meeting, Dr. Hershman presented results from a study looking at whether text messaging could increase the number of women who stick to their aromatase inhibitor treatment plans.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Hershman talk about:

• the background of the study
• the study results, which showed no difference in treatment adherence between women who received text messages and women who didn't
• what future research needs to do to better help women stick to their aromatase inhibitor treatment plans

Running time: 9:37

Listen now or read the transcript.

Moderators

Top Metastatic Breast Cancer Research at ASCO 2019

June 4, 2019

Dr. Maura Dickler, vice president of oncology late phase development for Eli Lilly and Company, offers insights on some of the most interesting research on metastatic breast cancer presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Dickler explain:

• results from the IMpassion 130 trial looking at Tecentriq (chemical name: atezolizumab) and Abraxane (chemical name: albumin-bound or nab-paclitaxel) to treat metastatic triple-negative breast cancer
• results from the Young-PEARL trial studying Ibrance (chemical name: palbociclib) and Aromasin (chemical name: exemestane) along with ovarian suppression to treat premenopausal women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer
• overall survival results from the MONALEESA-7 trial, which examined using Kisqali (chemical name: ribociclib) and hormonal therapy to treat premenopausal women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced-stage breast cancer

Running time: 9:30

Listen now or read the transcript.

Moderators

Adding Kisqali Improves Overall Survival in Younger Women With Advanced-Stage Hormone-Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer
June 10, 2019
Results from the MONALEESA-7 trial show that adding Kisqali to hormonal therapy and ovarian suppression significantly improves overall survival in premenopausal women diagnosed with advanced-stage, hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Read more...

Moderators

Can Treatment Regimens Before Surgery for Early-Stage HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Omit Chemotherapy?
June 11, 2019
Treating early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer before surgery with the combination of chemotherapy, Herceptin, and Perjeta seems to be more effective than the combination of Kadcyla and Perjeta before surgery. Read more...

Moderators

Experimental Margetuximab May Help Treat Certain HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancers
June 12, 2019
The experimental targeted therapy margetuximab combined with chemotherapy may help treat pretreated metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in people with a specific variant of CD16A, a protein that activates immune cells. Read more...

Moderators

Adding Clinical Risk of Recurrence to Oncotype DX Score Can Help Make Chemotherapy Decisions for Younger Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer
June 14, 2019
Considering information about the clinical risk of recurrence of early-stage breast cancer along with the Oncotype DX Recurrence Score results can help refine which women age 50 and younger diagnosed with early-stage hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that has not spread to the lymph nodes with a Recurrence Score of 16 to 25 will benefit from chemotherapy. Read more...

Moderators

Patients Report Less Fatigue, More Convenience, Slightly Worse Cosmetic Outcomes With Partial-Breast vs. Whole-Breast Radiation
June 14, 2019
Compared to whole-breast radiation, women treated with partial-breast radiation who didn't have chemotherapy after surgery reported less post-treatment fatigue and slightly poorer cosmetic results. They also said partial-breast radiation was more convenient. Read more...