Breastcancer.org Podcast

In September 2019, marathon swimmer Sarah Thomas did something that had never been done before: she swam the English Channel four times, non-stop. And she did this a year after completing treatment for stage II breast cancer. Sarah started swimming lessons at age one and was on a year-round swim team by age 10. She swam on her high school team and in College at the University of Connecticut where she studied political science and journalism. She took a break from swimming while earning a master’s degree at the University of Denver, but joined a masters’ swim team after graduating. In August 2017, Sarah swam 104.6 miles in Lake Champlain, the first current-neutral open water swim of more than 100 miles and the world record for the longest unassisted open water swim. In November 2017, while planning her English Channel swim, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 35. Listen to the podcast to hear Sarah talk about: how she found the breast lump and what she did after that how she talked to her doctors

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 Thank you for listening to the Breastcancer.org podcast. Please subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To share your thoughts about this or any episode, leave feedback on the podcast episode landing page on our website.

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 Thank you for listening to the Breastcancer.org podcast. Please subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To share your thoughts about this or any episode, leave feedback on the podcast episode landing page on our website.

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 Thank you for listening to the Breastcancer.org podcast. Please subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To share your thoughts about this or any episode, leave feedback on the podcast episode landing page on our website.

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 Thank you for listening to the Breastcancer.org podcast. Please subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To share your thoughts about this or any episode, leave feedback on the podcast episode landing page on our website.

Erica Guardascione is a speech-language pathologist at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. She’s also a curriculum developer and faculty member at ReVital Cancer Rehabilitation. After completing her undergraduate degree in speech-language pathology at Hofstra University, Erica went on to pursue graduate studies at Nova Southeastern University. She has practiced for more than a decade as a clinical specialist in the Cognitive Rehabilitation Program at Kessler. The program is designed to help people with brain injuries rebuild cognitive skills, restore physical and emotional strength, and maximize independence. Erica is a clinical lead in the program. Erica has a deep interest in cancer-related cognitive problems and is considered an authority on attention, focus, and memory impairments and rehabilitation strategies. As a faculty member at ReVital Cancer Rehabilitation, she recently co-led a continuing education course for therapists and other clinicians called “Cancer-Relate

Christine Hodgdon was diagnosed with de novo metastatic breast cancer in April 2015 and became heavily involved in the metastatic community after attending a Metavivor advocacy event on Capitol Hill to push for more research funding for metastatic breast cancer. Christine volunteers with a number of breast cancer organizations, including Living Beyond Breast Cancer, METAvivor, and the Tigerlily Foundation. She also has contributed articles and blogs to organizations to raise awareness of metastatic breast cancer and serves as a peer mentor for the Young Survival Coalition. Before she was diagnosed, Christine loved to travel and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2011-2013. When she returned, she worked as a conservation biologist to save habitat for endangered species. Now Christine is using her science background to create an open-access online forum thestormriders.org that provides the most recent and scientifically accurate information about breast cancer and its treatments, including metastat

Ashish Khanna, M.D., is a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and part of the ReVital Cancer Rehabilitation Program. Dr. Khanna completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Kingsbrook Jewish Rehabilitation Institute in Brooklyn, NY, where he became interested in cancer rehabilitation early on. He completed his fellowship subspecialization in cancer rehabilitation at Medstar Georgetown University and the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC. He specializes in the treatment of people who have pain or functional issues as a result of cancer or cancer treatments, including people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This includes pain, shoulder issues, fatigue, joint pain from aromatase inhibitors, and other issues. He has lectured at numerous international conferences, has published peer-reviewed research on a variety of related topics, and is the co-author of an upcoming book on cancer rehabilitation. Listen

Anne White, president of Lilly Oncology, discusses some of the most talked about breast cancer research presented at ESMO 2019. Running time: 10:40

Dr. Jennifer Litton is a board certified medical oncologist and professor of breast medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where she is chief of the Section of Clinical Research and Drug Development for Breast Cancer. She also is a member of the Breast Immuno-Oncology Task Force of the National Cancer Institute. At the European Society for Medical Oncology 2019 Congress, she presented information on a study she's leading, looking at combining a new type of immunotherapy with a traditional chemotherapy medicine. She joined us to talk about current immunotherapy research for breast cancer in general as well as what is specifically being presented at the congress. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Litton discuss: why immunotherapy medicines to treat breast cancer will likely be used with another type of therapy, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy the difference between a "hot" and "cold" tumor and why that is important for immunotherapy other biomarkers besides

Dr. Dennis Slamon is professor of medicine and executive vice chair for research for the UCLA Department of Medicine. He also serves as director of clinical/translational research and director of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. He is probably best known for doing the laboratory and clinical research that led to the development of Herceptin, the first medicine to specifically treat HER2-positive breast cancer. Dr. Slamon has won numerous awards for his research. Earlier this month, he received the 2019 Lasker Award for clinical medical research for his groundbreaking work on Herceptin. At the European Society for Medical Oncology 2019 Congress, he presented overall survival results from the MONALEESA-3 study, looking at using the CDK4/6 inhibitor Kisqali (chemical name: ribociclib) plus the hormonal therapy Faslodex (chemical name: fulvestrant) to treat advanced-stage, hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer in postmenopausal w

Dr. Leisha Emens is professor of medicine in hematology/oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center. She is also co-leader of the Hillman Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program and director of translational immunotherapy for the Women’s Cancer Research Center. She is internationally recognized for her work in breast cancer immunotherapy. At the European Society for Medical Oncology 2019 Congress, she presented overall survival results from the KATE2 study, which compared using the combination of Tecentriq, also called atezolizumab, and Kadcyla, also called T-DM1, to Kadcyla alone to treat HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer that had grown while being treated with Herceptin and chemotherapy. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Emens discuss: the design of the KATE2 study why the study is encouraging, even though it didn't meet its primary endpoint what the results mean for people diagnosed with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer her advice to people diagnosed with breast canc

Dr. George Sledge is professor of medicine and head of the Oncology Division at Stanford University. A former president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, he specializes in breast cancer research. He has published extensively on the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and has been honored with numerous awards for his work. At the European Society for Medical Oncology 2019 Congress, he presented overall survival results from the MONARCH 2 study, which used Verzenio (chemical name: abemaciclib) and Faslodex (chemical name: fulvestrant) to treat metastatic hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that was previously treated with hormonal therapy and had stopped responding. The women in the study were premenopausal, perimenopausal, or postmenopausal. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Sledge explain: the background of the MONARCH 2 study how much overall survival was improved the side effects seen in the study what the results mean for people diagnosed with metastatic hormone-recep

Dr. Conleth Murphy, an oncologist at Bon Secours Cork Cancer Center in Ireland, discusses his research on scalp cooling in people being treated with chemotherapy for cancer.Running time: 2:58

Karuna Jaggar has been executive director of Breast Cancer Action since 2011 and has a lifelong commitment to social justice. Throughout her 15-year career in nonprofit leadership, her work has focused on women’s rights and on eliminating socioeconomic inequities. Jaggar began her career working with women’s microenterprises internationally and in the United States, providing self-employment and business training, funding and support for low-income women. Prior to joining Breast Cancer Action, Jaggar was executive director at the Women’s Initiative for Self Employment. She has served on the Board of the California Association of Microenterprise Opportunity, where she chaired the Policy Committee. She holds a master’s degree in economic geography from the University of California-Berkeley and received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Smith College. With Breast Cancer Awareness Month upon us, Karuna joins us to talk about the Think Before You Pink project, including its history and goals. Listen to th

Brian Wojciechowski, M.D., practices medical oncology in Delaware County, Pennsylvania at Riddle, Taylor, and Crozer Hospitals and also serves as Breastcancer.org's medical adviser. A native of South Philadelphia, he trained at Temple University School of Medicine and Lankenau Medical Center. Dr. Wojciechowski is a sought-after speaker on the topics of medical ethics and the biology of cancer. In 2018, the American Joint Committee on Cancer, commonly called the AJCC, updated breast cancer staging guidelines to add other information to how a cancer’s stage is determined. This has made determining the stage of a breast cancer more complex, but also more accurate. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Wojciechowski explain: what the T, N, and M parts of the staging system mean how the new characteristics added to the staging system in 2018 — cancer grade, estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status, HER2 receptor status, and Oncotype DX Recurrence Score — affect a breast cancer’s stage how a cancer that

Dr. Frank DellaCroce, or "Dr. D" as he has come to be known, is a founding partner of the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery and St. Charles Surgical Hospital in New Orleans. Board-certified in plastic surgery, Dr. D has performed thousands of reconstructive procedures, both for women diagnosed with breast cancer and women at high risk of the disease who choose to have prophylactic breast removal. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, and the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. He also has been named one of the “Best Doctors in America.” In this podcast, Dr. DellaCroce discusses illness linked to breast implants, the Allergan textured implant recall, as well as how he is counseling his patients. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. DellaCroce discuss: the differences between textured and smooth implants, as well a

Brian Wojciechowski, M.D., practices medical oncology in Delaware County, Pennsylvania at Riddle, Taylor, and Crozer hospitals and also serves as Breastcancer.org's medical adviser. A native of South Philadelphia, he trained at Temple University School of Medicine and Lankenau Medical Center. Dr. Wojciechowski is a sought-after speaker on the topics of medical ethics and the biology of cancer. Blogs and popular media have discussed using fenbendazole (brand names: Panacure, Safe-Guard), a drug used to deworm dogs, to treat cancer. While some studies on cells in petri dishes and in mice suggest that fenbendazole might have anti-cancer properties, no studies have been done in people and it’s not clear what side effects it may cause or what the optimal dose might be. Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Wojciechowski talk about: the type of drug fenbendazole is and how it might kill cancer cells the studies in petri dishes and mice on fenbendazole that have been done so far what he tells his patients when they as

Ashish Khanna, M.D., is a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and part of the ReVital Cancer Rehabilitation Program. Dr. Khanna completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Kingsbrook Jewish Rehabilitation Institute in Brooklyn, NY, where he became interested in cancer rehabilitation early on. He completed his fellowship subspecialization in cancer rehabilitation at Medstar Georgetown University and the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC. He specializes in the treatment of people who have pain or functional issues as a result of cancer or cancer treatments, including people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This includes pain, shoulder issues, fatigue, joint pain from aromatase inhibitors, and other issues. He has lectured at numerous international conferences, has published peer-reviewed research on a variety of related topics, and is the co-author of an upcoming book on cancer rehabilitation. Listen

Stephanie McLeod-Estevez is a licensed clinical professional counselor and art therapist with 15 years of clinical expertise in treating anxiety, depression, and trauma. Stephanie also is a breast cancer survivor. She started her company, Creative Transformations, in 2016 to provide information, tools, and services to people diagnosed with cancer to enhance their emotional health and wellness. Her writing has been published in Wildfire, Coping with Cancer, and Breast Cancer Wellness. In this podcast on art therapy, Stephanie explains how people diagnosed with cancer can use it to heal emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Listen to the podcast to hear Stephanie discuss: her own breast cancer journey and how that influenced her career the process of art therapy and its benefits how to find a reputable art therapist Running time: 26:28