One aspect of MBC care that often goes overlooked is the health and wellbeing of the caregiver. Many times, this person who is either a friend or a family member is asked to take on another full-time job, often at the expense of their own health. Our first Honestly Spoken discussion, “Caring for Our Caregivers,” moderated by ABC Global Alliance President Dr. Fatima Cardoso, features the perspective and tips from caregivers Linda and Sarah-jane, patient advocate Nicole and Dr. Luzia Travado, an expert in psycho-oncology.
Listen as a person living with MBC, Jo and an oncologist, Dr Paluch Shimon, describe how to best collaborate together and how someone can become empowered as their own health advocate.
The terms that healthcare professionals use when they present the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer to the patients can sometimes be confusing. Listen to the discussion, moderated by ABC Global Alliance President Dr Fatima Cardoso, which features the perspective and tips from Dr Hope Rugo, breast medical oncologist, patient advocate Renate Haidinger and Eva Schumacher-Wulf, metastatic breast cancer patient.
What exactly is a clinical trial and why is it important to participate? Watch this episode of the Honestly Spoken initiative to clarify some of the questions and myths about clinical trials together with Dr Fatima Cardoso, ABC Global Alliance President and Director of the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Clinical Center in Lisbon, and Eva Schumacher-Wulf, metastatic breast cancer patient and founder of the magazine Mamma Mia.
To address the critical unmet need in access to care for hard-to-reach populations with advanced/ metastatic breast cancer (ABC/MBC), the ABC Global Alliance and Pfizer have collaborated to develop a toolkit of relevant, community-based initiatives and best practice summary documents that aims to drive collaboration across the global ABC/MBC community.
While breast cancer awareness has significantly increased globally, the urgent needs of individuals living with advanced breast cancer in low-resource countries have been overlooked. We firmly believe that a person's location should not determine their fate when it comes to living with advanced breast cancer and therefore we joined forces with The Max Foundation to provide access to treatment and support for HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer in 5 low- and middle-income countries in 2023.
Novartis has partnered with organisations around the world to raise awareness of the needs and experiences of people living with advanced breast cancer and to provide disease information to patients and caregivers. One major initiative has been the global "Count Us, Know Us, Join Us" campaign that recognises and supports those living with ABC, as well as their caregivers, supporters, friends, and family members and helps to give them a stronger voice to meet their needs.
The Count Us, Know Us, Join Us survey confirmed that women with ABC feel isolated from the "pink" breast cancer movement that tends to focus on prevention and survivorship, and want to be better understood.
The sister pan-European initiative, "Here & Now" aims to raise awareness of ABC and the realities of living with the disease. Here & Now has uncovered insights into the impact of ABC to understand how barriers to optimal patient care can be overcome in order to improve the level of care and support across Europe.
