Patient perspectives on de-escalating chemotherapy and comorbidities in breast cancer patients
In this episode, two American Cancer Society grantees discuss recent findings related to how breast cancer patients feel about de-escalating chemotherapy as well as a new paper on comorbidities in breast cancer patients. The first half of the conversation is not necessarily technical, but it\u2019s geared for a scientific audience. The second half is a more general discussion for a lay audience.\n\nAvonne Connor, PhD, is a breast cancer epidemiologist focused on health disparities research. She is Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Oncology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and has a joint appointment at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. She recently published findings in the journal Cancer on \u201cComorbidities and the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality among racially diverse patients with breast cancer:\u201d https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.33530\n\nGabrielle Rocque, MD, is a breast medical oncologist and health services researcher with an interest in quality and value in health care delivery. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at The University of Alabama at Birmingham with joint appointments in hematology and oncology as well as gerontology, geriatrics, and palliative care. Her recent paper in Cancer Medicine was on \u201cPatient perspectives on chemotherapy de\u2010escalation in breast cancer:\u201d https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cam4.3891\n\n3:02 \u2013 Dr. Rocque shares takeaways from her recent study on patients\u2019 \u201cinterest in de-escalation trial participation, perceived barriers/facilitators to participation, and language describing de-escalation\u201d\n\n8:44 \u2013 How the pandemic influenced patients\u2019 decisions\n\n10:58 \u2013 How she became interested in exploring patient perspectives on de-escalating treatment\n\n12:44 \u2013 Dr. Connor discusses findings on \u201cassociations between newly diagnosed comorbidities and the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality among (breast cancer) patients\u201d\n\n20:36 \u2013 Dr. Rocque reacts to the paper and asks, \u201cWhere do we go from here in terms of interventions?\u201d\n\n24:40 \u2013 On how a cancer diagnosis can prompt patients to reflect on their lives and how they can take care of their health\n\n27:55 \u2013 Dr. Connor talks about how rewarding and exciting it is to train a postdoctoral fellow\n\n29:39 \u2013 Dr. Rocque on her passion \u2013 how do we provide the best supportive care to patients, and how do we integrate research and clinical care?\n\n30:50 \u2013 How American Cancer Society funding impacted their research and careers