SABCS 2022
WHAT CAN TNBC PATIENTS LEARN FROM THE SABCS2022?
The annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium each December is very important! It is where every year the world’s leading experts in breast cancer meet together to present their progress and discuss what more should be done together to improve treatment of the disease.
Researchers, oncologists, surgeons, Pharma companies and patient advocacy groups, all with the same objective. Triple Negative Breast Cancer, so long the ‘Cinderella’ of breast cancers, is now thankfully getting more and more attention at SABCS. Whilst everyone hopes for that ‘revolutionary’ moment, more realistically progress will and is being made in incremental steps. Significant progress over the last 5 years has been achieved with several new drugs for TNBC now becoming available. This has led to much more research into optimising the effects of these recently released drugs and opened up areas of potential for research and clinical trials for more possible new drugs. For more detail about these recently available drugs see www.ukcharityfortnbc.org. Your Consultant will be able to advise you if you are eligible and can benefit from any of these. One new area for longer-term potential was research presented at SABCS showing that some people with early-stage TNBC could benefit from the well-established HER2 positive drug Trastuzamab (Herceptin). Even though officially HER2 negative, about 30% of TNBC patients have some HER2, and are termed HER2low. Trials have commenced showing if the early research is valid.
There is real optimism that SABCS2023 will provide further progress for TNBC.
What SABCS2022 did highlight, however, is that there are a number of ways that people with TNBC can help themselves and ensure they are doing as much as possible to aid their recovery.
Ask Your Consultant About Trials
There are now more worldwide trials than ever related to TNBC and patient participation is vital to enable new treatments to be tested and hopefully approved for general use. Your personal overall health situation and breast cancer status may mean you are not eligible. The trial may or may not help with your treatment, but you will have the knowledge that what you are doing may well help others.
Ask Your Consultant About Genetic Testing
An existing drug Olaparib, has been shown in research to be highly effective for patients when a particular gene called BRCA is faulty or damaged. This is not chemotherapy and is taken orally. About 5-10% of patients with breast cancer, and more in TNBC, have faulty BRCA genes. There is a simple test available on the NHS and you need to discuss with your Consultant whether you should be tested. The chances of passing on this gene within families is high, so they too need to be tested and can then be monitored to ensure early diagnosis if breast cancer has developed. Note that genes are inherited from both male as well as female parents.
Report Any Side Effects to Your Consultant
Much progress has been made in being able to reduce the side effects of treatments like chemotherapy, so be sure to keep a record and tell your Consultant. They may be able to provide drugs which will make life easier!
Take Care of your Body!
There is increasing evidence that some form of movement or exercise, and a healthy fibre-based diet helps significantly in living with cancer and can aid tolerance of treatment and recovery.
