MBCN Discussion 10.31.09

Sorry it has taken me so long to report on the MBC discussion but I have been dealing with some health issues. I know that you understand.

The "Open Conversation on MBC" was held at Dana-Farber in Boston, MA. Dr Eric Winer, Director of the Breast Oncology Center and Chief of Women's Cancers at Dana-Farber, led the discussion. He was accompanied in the panel discussion by two breast oncologists at Dana-Farber - Dr Ian Krop and Dr Nancy Lin. Dr Winer spoke for about 20 minutes and then he and the panel answered questions from the audience for about two hours.

As soon as I found out the program was being videotaped and would be on the MBCN website, I quit taking notes; however, I jotted down a few points that I want to share with you. Please remember that these are opinions of Dana-Farber breast oncologists and may not concur with your oncologist.

Dr Winer stated that PARP inhibitors look promising for treating triple negative and BRAC positive MBC.

Dr Winer stressed that Dana Farber treats the patient and not the scan. He said he is more interested in how the patient feels. My breast oncologist at Dana has told me the same thing - several times.

Dr Winer believes that, in the future, there will be very few new drugs but different combinations of the drugs used now. He also said that he believes that cancer will be CURED in 10-15 years! (Does that mean that there will be no new cases or that everyone who gets cancer will be cured? Does that also mean that those of us who already have cancer will be cured? I will have to ask my oncologist what that means.)

Dr Winer mentioned a new drug, Denosubab, that may be a substitute for Zometa and all the Zometa side effects.

Dr Winer mentioned that he does not rely on tumor markers because they are so variable and unreliable.

Dr Winer hates PET scans. I didn't hear his explanation as to why. I know that my breast oncologist at Dana-Farber does not use them at all. He relies on bone scans, CT scans and MRIs.

As I mentioned in another post, Linda and Gilda were not able to stay for the networking session but I stayed and chatted with others who had bone metastasis. My husband was able to share his activity as a care-giver with other men in the same position. I believe it was very helpful to him. There were quite a few men at the program and lots of other care-givers - sisters, daughters, mothers, etc.

I also failed to mention that another Inspire member, Susie, was there. I did meet her but didn't have a chance to chat.

I am so thankful to MBCN for sponsoring these programs. It is one thing to read about all the trends on MBC but quite another thing to hear it live and get to ask questions.

Look for the video taping of this program on the MBCN website.. (I looked today but it wasn't posted yet.)