BCO Coverage of SABCS 2019

Moderators

Every December, the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium brings together clinicians, researchers, and advocates to discuss the latest breast cancer study results. We're proud to present our coverage below.

Moderators

Mets, Sex, and Side Effects – Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 SABCS

December 11, 2019

Dr. Kelly Shanahan, metastatic patient advocate, METAvivor board member, and former OB/GYN talks about the Mets, Sex, and Side Effects panel that she comoderated at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The panel was cosponsored by Breastcancer.org and Sermonix Pharmaceuticals.

Running time: 3:40

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Moderators

Why Sexual Health Is Crucial for People With Metastatic Breast Cancer – Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 SABCS

December 11, 2019

Dr. Stephanie Graff, director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, talks about why sexual health is so important for people living with metastatic breast disease and offers tips for people who may be uncomfortable bringing up the topic with their oncologist.

Running time: 2:20

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Moderators

Beneath the Breast – Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 SABCS

December 11, 2019

Barbara and Tim Bigelow discuss Barbara's metastatic breast cancer diagnosis and the side effects she experienced as one of the first people treated with immunotherapy for breast cancer. A board member of METAvivor, Barbara also explains the Beneath the Breast project, the latest initiative of the #ThisIsMBC campaign.

Running time: 16:36

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Moderators

SABCS 2019: Tucatinib: A New Standard of Care for HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer?

December 11, 2019

Dr. Rashmi Murthy, assistant professor of breast medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, discusses the results of the HER2CLIMB study that she presented at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium showing that the experimental medicine tucatinib offers benefits to people diagnosed with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer and may be a new standard of care.

Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Murthy explain:

• a summary of the study results
• why this study included people with brain metastases
• the side effects of tucatinib
• why she thinks the results are practice changing

Running time: 8:22

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Moderators

Does Immunotherapy Before Breast Cancer Surgery Offer Benefits? – Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 SABCS

December 12, 2019

Dr. Luca Gianni, president of the Fondazione Michelangelo in Milan, discusses the results of the NeoTRIP trial, which looked to see if adding the immunotherapy medicine Tecentriq (chemical name: atezolizumab) to chemotherapy before surgery for triple-negative breast cancer with a high risk of recurrence could improve the time women lived without the cancer coming back.

Running time: 7:17

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Moderators

GRASP: Empowering Patients With Knowledge – Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 SABCS

December 12, 2019

Felicia Johnson, who is living with metastatic disease, and Sharon Rivera-Sanchez, who was diagnosed in 2015 with triple-negative breast cancer, talk about what they learned during the GRASP (Guiding Researchers & Advocates to Scientific Partnerships) program.

Running time: 7:52

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Moderators

SABCS 2019: Arimidex for Breast Cancer Prevention: Benefits Last Nearly 6 Years After Treatment Ends

December 12, 2019

Dr. Jack Cuzick is director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine and head of the Center for Cancer Prevention at the Queen Mary University of London, where he holds the title of John Snow Professor of Epidemiology.

He is internationally known for his research showing tamoxifen can be used to treat estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, as well as his work to help develop the Tyrer-Cuzick breast cancer risk evaluation tool, which helps women and their doctors estimate a woman's risk of developing breast cancer.

At the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, he presented the latest results from the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study II Prevention Trial, looking at whether 5 years of Arimidex (chemical name: anastrozole) can reduce breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women who have higher-than-average risk of the disease but have not been diagnosed.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Cuzick discuss:

• how much Arimidex reduced risk after about 11 years of follow up
• why Arimidex is better than tamoxifen at reducing risk in high-risk postmenopausal women
• the side effects seen in the study and why side effect rates were the same in women who took Arimidex and women who took a placebo
• why it's unlikely that Arimidex will be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for this use, but why doctors will be able to prescribe it off-label

Running time: 9:25

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Moderators

SABCS 2019: MRI Finds Breast Cancers Earlier Than Mammography in Women With Strong Family History

December 13, 2019

Dr. Madeleine Tilanus-Linthorst is a member of the department of surgery at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. At the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, she presented research comparing breast cancer screening with MRI versus mammography in women at high risk of the disease because of strong family history. The results found that MRI found cancers earlier, when they were smaller in size and could potentially change screening standards in the Netherlands and other European countries.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Tilanus-Linthorst explain:

• differences in screening recommendations between the United States and the Netherlands
• why it's important to find cancers earlier
• the risk of more false-positives with MRI screening

Running time: 11:06

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Moderators

Top News at 2019 SABCS – Heard in the Halls: Voices From the 2019 SABCS

December 13, 2019

Jack Goodpasture, senior director of medical affairs at Eli Lilly and Company, discusses some of the research presented at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium that might be most applicable to people diagnosed with breast cancer.

Running time: 5:11

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Moderators

SABCS 2019: Five More Years of Femara Seems to Reduce Breast Cancer Recurrence Risk for Some Women

December 13, 2019

Dr. Terry Mamounas is medical director of the comprehensive breast program at Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center and is considered one of the country's top cancer doctors.

At the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, he presented the latest results from a study looking at whether an additional five years of Femara after five years of a combination of tamoxifen and an aromatase inhibitor or five years of only an aromatase inhibitor offers benefits to postmenopausal women diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Mamounas discuss:

• the results showing additional Femara reduced the risk of distant recurrence – the breast cancer coming back in a part of the body away from the breast
• the amount of improvement in event-free survival
• side effects associated with taking Femara for another five years
• how he's talking to his patients about these latest results

Running time: 18:32

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Moderators

Experimental Tucatinib Improves Survival in Metastatic HER2-Positive Breast Cancer, May Be New Standard of Care
December 17, 2019
Adding experimental tucatinib to the standard of care of Herceptin and Xeloda improved both progression-free survival and overall survival in people diagnosed with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer that had been previously treated with Herceptin, Perjeta, and Kadcyla. Read more...

Moderators

Immunotherapy for Early-Stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Understanding What Appear to Be Conflicting Results
December 19, 2019
Results from two studies on using the immunotherapy medicines Tecentriq or Keytruda along with chemotherapy to treat early-stage triple-negative breast cancer before surgery suggested that Keytruda offered benefits while Tecentriq did not. Read more...

Moderators

Risk-Reducing Effects of Arimidex for High-Risk Postmenopausal Women Last Years After Treatment Stops
December 19, 2019
Postmenopausal women at high risk for breast cancer who hadn't been diagnosed continued to get risk-reducing benefits for at least 11 years after they stopped taking Arimidex preventively. Read more...

Moderators

Is Oral Paclitaxel Better Than IV Paclitaxel for Metastatic Breast Cancer?
January 2, 2020
Women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer treated with an oral form of paclitaxel seemed to have a better response to treatment and less neuropathy compared to women treated with the IV version of paclitaxel. Read more...

Moderators

FDA Approves Enhertu for Unresectable or Pretreated Metastatic HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
January 2, 2020
On Dec. 20, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Enhertu (chemical name: fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki) to treat people diagnosed with unresectable HER2-positive breast cancer or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer that has been treated with two or more anti-HER2 therapies. Read more...

Moderators

Adding Perjeta to Herceptin and Chemotherapy After Surgery Shows Benefits in Early-Stage HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
January 3, 2020
Updated results show adding Perjeta to Herceptin and chemotherapy after surgery for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer continues to reduce the risk of recurrence and to slightly improve survival. Read more..