The Katherine and IMpassion130 findings were among the top study results touted by advocates attending the 41st annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium® (SABCS®). Along with new research presented, representatives said they were glad for the opportunity to meet with physicians and introduce them to the patients they represent.
METAvivor staffed its booth with stage IV metastatic breast cancer patients who could give the doctors and researchers first-hand perspective on living with the disease.
“We were pleasantly surprised at the physicians who came to our booth to learn from patients about their needs while living with MBC (metastatic breast cancer),” said Sonya Negley, executive director of METAvivor. “Many picked up our patient journals to leave at their offices for patients.”
The Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation had several nights of question and answer panels with physicians going over “hot topics” that were presented each day.
“Our advocates got to hear doctors debate and disagree on the treatment options,” said Sandi Stanford of ABCF. “Advocates just aren’t used to doctors disagreeing out in the open. That was a real eye-opener for some of us.”
For Peggy Miller of the Male Breast Cancer Coalition, SABCS® presents another important opportunity to remind people that men have breasts, too. “We informed many doctors about MBCC,” she wrote in an email.
Karuna Jagger, executive director of Breast Cancer Action wrote in one of her SABCS® blog posts, “What we really need is to do the right amount of the right things. Yes, we need to avoid overtreatment. We also need to remove barriers to timely, affordable, evidence-based treatment. And, we need true primary prevention so that fewer people need breast cancer treatment.”