OMBCL Shorts #1: Dr. Stephanie Graff & Her Steps For Those Newly Diagnosed MBC
Our inaugural OMBCL Shorts features Dr. Stephanie Graff talking about what she does when someone is newly diagnosed with MBC. This season, we had a 3-part series for people newly diagnosed and we couldn't resist getting her take on the topic. And we're so glad we asked!
The Rising Rates of BC & MBC in Young Women, Including Pregnancy & Post-Partum Diagnoses
If you don't hear much about the rising rates of all stages of breast cancer, including MBC, in young women, you're not alone. De novo MBC rates (when Stage 4 MBC is found at the first diagnosis) are rising "exponentially", and fastest among women between the ages of 25 and 39, but not in older women. These trends are alarming to researchers. Perhaps most shocking of all: half of young women diagnosed with breast cancer under 45 have a postpartum diagnosis, defined as being within 10 years from their youngest child's birth, and that is something that rarely gets covered or explained. We'll explore it all in this episode, including the possible causes, recommendations for testing and even contraception for young women, and the research and clinical leaders working to make this a top priority in the BC & MBC space. It's difficult to consider, and dense, we know. But so important and important to share with all the young women in our lives. Not to scare them, but to inform and empower them.
Recent Advances, Controversies, and Emerging Trends in MBC
Over the last 20 years, advances in HER2 targeting treatments, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitors (CDK4/6is) have prolonged survival and changed the breast cancer treatment landscape. Success leads to more questions about optimal drug sequencing, mechanisms of resistance, and how to overcome that resistance. Let’s ask Dr. Stephanie Graff to help us tackle these topics and more.
Episode 2: Meditation Mondays with Barbara Chutroo
Welcome to the Meditation Mondays series, created with MBC patients in mind and designed for people who want to assist their body's natural tendency to repair and heal. The focus of this episode is practice of awareness. When we meditate, what do we learn about ourselves?
Our meditation leader is Barbara Chutroo, an MBC patient herself. Barbara is a longtime meditator and experienced meditation teacher. She's also a movement therapist and a clinical social worker.
Living Alone with MBC
Living with metastatic breast cancer is hard enough, but for those who are single or do not have a primary caregiver, living alone with MBC can be especially challenging. With some extra planning and working out who can support you, however, it is possible to continue to live alone well even when you have MBC. In this episode, we speak with four amazing ladies from the US & Canada, who generously share their experiences, feelings, and plans for living alone while navigating MBC. We then discuss some helpful resources for finding social & emotional support, legal & financial resources, and coordinating care. Finally, we end by sharing Lesley Kailani Glenn’s story of deciding to leave a thirty year marriage while diagnosed with MBC. Join us for this real but hopeful discussion! *Note: individuals in this episode share their thoughts on medical aid in dying as one part of this rich conversation.
Newly Diagnosed with MBC: Tests, Terms, & Tips with Dr. Rebecca Shatsky
Being diagnosed with MBC can feel like you’ve been dropped into a dangerous and alien landscape, one whose inhabitants speak a new and confusing language. Numb and bewildered, you face a mountain of medical decisions—each with seemingly high stakes. The last in Our MBC Life’s 3-part series for people newly diagnosed with MBC, this episode's interview with Dr. Rebecca Shatsky, interspersed with experienced-patient voices, sheds light on cancer types, tests, and treatment—and empowers listeners to navigate this challenging new terrain with understanding, knowledge, and confidence.
Newly Diagnosed & Trailblazing: An Interview with Michelle Anderson-Benjamin
In this episode, Our MBC Life sits down with patient and advocate Michelle Anderson-Benjamin, founder of The Fearless Warrior Project. During the pandemic, Michelle was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and then with metastatic breast cancer shortly after she completed initial treatment. An experienced healthcare professional, a mom of two kids, and a wife who poured all her energy into others, Michelle says the diagnosis of MBC put a "battery in her back" to refocus attention on herself. This candid conversation has a lot to offer those newly diagnosed with MBC, and will inspire all of us.
Newly Diagnosed with MBC: Keeping Your Balance on the Emotional Rollercoaster
Hearing the words “you have metastatic breast cancer” is devastating. Whether your diagnosis comes de novo or months, years, or even decades after treatment for early-stage breast cancer, there is no way to prepare for the terror, anger, despair, and sense of freefall that follows. You’ll hear from oncology social worker Lisa Nelson and a candid group of patients on the challenges of processing the diagnosis.
Episode 1: Meditation Mondays with Barbara Chutroo
This guided meditation was recorded during one of Share Cancer Support’s support groups for patients with metastatic breast cancer. The meditation leader is Barbara Chutroo, who is a member of the group. We intend to publish a new meditation episode on the third Monday of every month
MBC Advocacy: Finding Purpose in Adversity
After a Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) diagnosis, patients and the people around them are often left reeling and looking around to figure out how to make some sort of meaning from the trauma. The guests and representatives from LBBC and METAvivor on this episode share how finding purpose in the midst of adversity has helped them to truly LIVE with MBC. Don’t forget to listen all the way to the end as guest producer, Abigail Johnston, has some specific calls to action to share!
2022 in Review: Best in MBC with Dr. Erika Hamilton
Welcome to the first Road to A Cure episode of Season 6. Our guest is the incomparable Dr. Erika Hamilton, a breast oncologist and researcher who, as she says herself, doesn’t shy away from difficult questions. In this episode, we get a review—subtype by subtype—of the biggest news over the past 15 months. Of course, we also talk about what is on the horizon in MBC.
LBBC - Silent Voices No Longer
This season, we are bringing back our Trailblazer series. Our first trailblazer is Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), a national non-profit that has become synonymous with the word community. That’s because LBBC’s annual Conference on MBC is one of the largest gatherings for women and men living with MBC. In this episode we will speak with Jean Sachs, CEO of LBBC, and sprinkled throughout this episode are your voices, voices of patients sharing their LBBC experience.
Meditation, Mindfulness, and MBC: Finding Your Inner Calm
Can mindfulness and meditation help many of us living with MBC tame anxiety, improve emotional balance, and experience more joy? Expert guests and our patient panel share how this ancient practice can make a daily difference. Bonus: our podcast includes a special guided meditation created with MBC patients in mind.
Laughter as Medicine
Is laughter good medicine? These breast cancer survivors/thrivers say: Yes!
Systemic Racism and MBC in Clinical Trials
Jumping hurdles to get the treatments you want is the reality for people living with MBC. Add systemic racism into the healthcare mix and it’s clear that more needs to happen, and soon, to create equity and greater diversity in one of the most important tools in the MBC toolbox: clinical trials. In this episode, we check in with Stephanie Walker, who led the BECOME project and spearheads the Black Wo(Men) Speak Symposium, patient advocate and clinical trial participant Rev. Dr. Tawana Davis, and Patient Navigator Valarie Worthy. How does systemic racism affect what Black patients learn about MBC clinical trials? And how can those who need it most break down barriers to the best care?
ASCO 2022: When The Dust Settles, What Are My Treatment Options For ER+/HER2- MBC?
Welcome to the second part of our post–2022-ASCO analysis of the state of affairs in the HR-positive MBC. It was not so long ago that our only options were single-agent endocrine therapy and systemic chemo. We have come a long way over the last couple of decades. Today we are asking Drs. Stephanie Graff, Sara Hurvitz, and Kevin Kalinsky to talk about how they make decisions in the clinic in selecting and sequencing treatments, specifically CDK4/6 inhibitors and the newly approved targeted therapies.
RTAC: FES/Cerianna Screening for Estrogen Positive MBC
There’s a FDA- approved diagnostic imaging agent developed to comprehensively evaluate estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) lesions in recurrent or metastatic breast cancer as an adjunct to biopsy. By creating a “whole-body” picture of ER+ lesions, Cerianna may be a helpful diagnostic tool in helping oncologists better determine the most appropriate course of treatment. Learn more in this episode.
Caregivers: We Can’t Do This Without You!
Celebrate OMBCL’s 100th episode and National Family Caregiver Month by listening to our candid conversations with three committed and courageous caregivers.
ASCO 2022: When the Dust Settles, Will ADCs Change MBC?
While HER2-Low and DESTINY-Breast04 garnered most of the headlines from the ASCO 2022 in June, it was not the only reason for optimism. Our MBC Life takes a deeper dive with Dr. Stephanie Graff and Dr. Hope Rugo in this first episode of our two-part series.
We Remember
We Remember honors all who died from metastatic breast cancer over the past year—parents, children, spouses and partners. In this episode, the MBC community gives voice to both the grief and the love that endures after each death.