Today’s episode is the first in a three part series covering all things related to bone metastasis. In our first episode, we’re covering the basics starting with some bone education. We’re joined by Dr. Azeez Farooki, an endocrinologist at MSK, who discusses his role on treatment for bone disease stemming from breast cancer. We’re also joined by Dr. Monica Fornier, a breast medical oncologist also at MSK, who treats people living with metastatic breast cancer. Both doctors will be diving into bone disease & the latest in breast cancer bone metastasis research. Topics include theories on why breast cancer spreads to the bones, as well as the future of bone metastasis research and treatment. We unlock the wisdom of these top experts as they bridge the gaps between advancing research and patient care in a thought provoking conversation.

Even though breast cancer research is comparatively well-funded, researchers still don't fully understand the many different ways metastatic cancer eventually evades currently available treatments. Just like a detective can learn much from studying the scene of a crime, researchers need to understand how breast cancer causes death to better understand how to stop it from doing so. One of the quickest ways for them to do that is through something called a tissue donation program.

Many of us are familiar with organ donation programs, but as metastatic patients, we are no longer eligible to donate our organs to another person. We can, however, donate tissue while we're still alive and tissues, including organs, soon after we die to aid thousands of future patients by helping researchers better understand the process of metastasis. Understanding the way cancer evades current treatments is key to developing more effective and more targeted treatments that let us live longer (and with a better quality of life) with the hope that one day we can stop MBC from prematurely ending our lives.

To learn more about tissue donation programs and why they are so essential to scientific discoveries, we talk with patient advocates, Stephanie Walker and Christine Hodgdon, along with breast cancer researcher Dr. Steffi Oesterreich and clinical coordinator Lori Miller about the topic of tissue donation in general and the specific program they're all involved with called Hope for Others at the University of Pittsburgh.

Did you know that in the US rural communities have lower cancer rates but higher death rates from cancer? Did you know that only 3% of medical oncologists practice in rural communities?

When it comes to cancer, living in a rural area puts people at a disadvantage.

They face limited access to quality healthcare, long travel times, and low recruitment to clinical trials, all of which affect quality of care and health outcomes. Join our producers Stephanie Walker and Martha Carlson, along with their guests, in the deep dive into this important topic.

The landscape of medication to treat ER+, HER2 negative or low is changing rapidly as patients experience progression on CDK4/6 inhibitors and look for next steps. Now that biomarker testing is more readily available (both tissue and liquid), there are more options particularly in the PI3 kinase pathway. In this episode we will discuss biomarker testing, the PI3 kinase pathway, and an exciting new patient initiative, the PIK3CA Pathbreakers.

Today we are bringing you a special episode that we created in partnership with SHARE Cancer Support. It’s an audio version of a live webinar that was done this past February called Report back from San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2023. SABCS is the world’s leading breast cancer research meeting where scientists, patient advocates, and others dedicated to working in the field of cancer gather.

In this podcast, Dr. Timothy Pluard, director of the Saint Luke’s Koontz Center for Advanced Breast Cancer, breaks down the promising research, targeted therapy, the evolving treatment after CDK 4/6 inhibitors, liquid biopsy and more.

We wanted to start this season with an episode dedicated to our friend and team member, Natalia Green. Natalia passed away from MBC at the age of 39 on November 29, 2023. She was an integral part of the podcast team, having been a senior producer/host and right-hand woman to Lisa Laudico, our founder. She became involved in the podcast through her advocacy work, starting first after her early-stage breast cancer diagnosis, then becoming more involved in the metastatic breast cancer community after she received her MBC diagnosis. She was a devoted mother to her daughter Rosy and son Iggy, and a loving wife and friend to her husband of 19 years, Danny. She was a daughter, a mother, and a cousin, holding a special place in the lives of everyone she met. Lastly, she was our friend. We’ll miss hearing her speak with passion about topics she wanted to cover on the podcast, we’ll miss seeing Iggy & Rosy pop their heads into our Monday meetings, but mostly we’ll miss seeing her beautiful smile. The entire OMBCL podcast team is lovingly dedicating our 8th season to Natalia. We hope it holds a modicum of the impact that Natalia has had on the world.

The team would love to extend our heartfelt thanks to Danny Green for all his help in creating this episode.

MUSIC CREDITS:

-'Meditation I' by Sufjan Stevens

-'Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)' by Oscar Isaac and Marcus Mumford

The winter holidays are here, bringing all the joyful festivities with them. I thought this might be a great time to chat a bit about the joy of celebrations - the good, the bad, and the ugly. I know many of us right now are scurrying around with the Christmas and New Year holidays at the top of our mind, but today I’d like to spend more of our focus, not only on the typical winter holidays, but on all the myriad of celebrations we encounter in our lives. We will reflect on how we love them, how we dread them and how we can experience joyful celebrations no matter where our lives are at the moment.

For many of us living with MBC, travel provides a much-needed respite from the day-to-day realities of living with our disease. But balancing trips with treatment and side effects can be challenging. In this episode, you'll hear from members of the OMBCL team, along with some remarkable MBC frequent flyers as they share places they’ve been, the places they want to go, and the advice they have for those times when a journey really is a journey. We hope you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for your own adventures!

Travel Resources

Travel Insurance: Compare products at InsureMyTrip Note: To insure the trip for all reasons, you need to purchase within 14 days of first payment for trip to cover pre-existing condition.

Destinations Mentioned by our Guests:

Disney locations - check out Disability Access Services, DAS, to “join” a line virtually, allowing you to wait in a comfortable space before getting on the ride.

Cruises - Consider taking advantage of a cruise with medical services available Cruise to the Arctic, Svalbard: several lines from Finland, Norway

Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona

Organizations Providing Free Vacations and Retreats for People with Cancer:
(Note: most require participants to pay for their own transportation to the location) This is not an exhaustive list! Explore online yourself to see if there is a vacation retreat offered near you or in a destination you are eager to visit.

Little Pink Houses of Hope: Week-long beach retreats for people with breast cancer (Mentioned in our podcast)

Casting for Recovery: Connects people living with breast cancer with nature through the therapeutic sport of fly fishing

Send me on Vacation: Covers hotel/lodgings and some other costs at different destinations including Italian winery, beaches (Mentioned in our podcast)

Harmony Hill Healing Retreat: Free 3-day retreats in the Pacific Northwest for people living with cancer and their companions

Mary’s Place by the Sea: Free 2-day night and day spa retreats near the beach in Ocean Grove, NJ

Live by Living: Free retreats in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado for people with cancer and their care givers

Camp Mak-a-Dream: Free retreats in Montana for people with cancer and their caregivers"