Live from Stage 4: MBC News for Us, by Us

Learn about osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), a rare but serious side effect of bisphosphonates used to treat bone metastases. In this episode, Abigail Johnston is joined by Victoria Goldberg, executive producer of the podcast and fellow ONJ patient, to discuss their personal experiences navigating diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Discover what ONJ is, how to recognize early warning signs like pa...

Twenty-five years ago, the diagnosis of HER2+ breast cancer was a death sentence. Two-year survival was roughly 50%. Today, oncologists are using the word "cure" in the metastatic setting. Co-hosts Victoria Goldberg and Abigail Johnston sit down with Dr. Erika Hamilton (Chief Development Officer of Late Phase Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute) and Dr. Sarah Premji (Assistant Di...

This is the first episode of a series we never wanted to make. Jill Tirabassi was a physician in Buffalo, a mother of two little boys, a lifelong athlete, a gardener who was happiest with dirt on her hands, and a member of the Live From Stage IV team who said yes to this podcast before it existed. She was diagnosed with de novo metastatic breast cancer while pregnant with her second son. She died...

Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV): Managing a Common Side Effect Nausea and vomiting are common side effects of chemotherapy, but the strategies that work for everyday nausea often fall short. In this episode, Abigail Johnston shares her personal experience navigating CINV and discusses practical approaches to managing this challenging symptom. Topics covered include: Why traditional...

Biomarkers are transforming how we understand and treat breast cancer, but what do they actually mean? In this episode, we break down the three layers of biomarker testing: DNA biomarkers that reveal genetic mutations like BRCA1 and BRCA2, RNA biomarkers that show which genes are actively expressed in your tumor, and protein biomarkers like HER2 and PD-L1 that tell us what's actually happenin...

In this Symptoms Spotlight episode, Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk are joined by Dr. Jill Tirabassi to talk about ascites, the buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity that can occur with metastatic breast cancer and liver disease. Dr. Jill shares both her medical expertise and her personal experience, explaining what ascites is, why it happens, and how it shows up on scans. The conversation co...

This is a disease no one wants, but you meet the best people." Twenty years ago, about 125 people gathered at a hotel outside Philadelphia for the first-ever conference just for those living with metastatic breast cancer, at a time when the community was rarely seen or heard. Today, it's a three-day national event drawing hundreds of attendees and a virtual audience. In this episode, the...

Nobody wants to talk about dying. But what happens when we do? On August 5th, 2025, New York becomes one of only a handful of states where Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) is now legal. For people living with incurable or terminal illness, this isn't an abstract policy debate — it's a deeply personal question about autonomy, dignity, and who gets to decide how life ends. In this first episode...

Triple negative metastatic breast cancer is one of the most complex and rapidly evolving frontiers in oncology, and this episode is your most comprehensive guide to understanding it. Victoria Goldberg sits down with Dr. Sarah Premji, oncologist and clinical researcher at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, for a deep dive into what makes triple negative MBC so uniquely challenging an...

In this episode of Symptoms Spotlights, hosts Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk, a metastatic breast cancer patient and a registered nurse living with MBC, dive deep into one of the most serious yet underdiscussed risks facing cancer patients: blood clots (thrombus). Melanie breaks down the science behind how blood clots form, where they can occur in the body including the lungs, brain, heart, and...

What if metastatic breast cancer didn't have to mean a lifetime of treatment? For a subset of HER2-positive patients, that question is no longer hypothetical. In this episode of Live from Stage 4 , hosts Victoria Goldberg and Dr. Ellen Landsberger sit down with Dr. Pedram Razavi, breast oncologist, translational researcher, and principal investigator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,...

In this episode of Symptoms Spotlight, hosts Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk take an honest and personal look at one of the most common yet least talked about side effects of metastatic breast cancer treatment: vaginal dryness. Both living with MBC, Abigail and Melanie share what has worked for them, from water-based lubricants and coconut oil to topical lidocaine cream and low-dose estradiol. T...

We've always been told that metastatic breast cancer can't be cured, only managed. But what if that's no longer the whole story? In this episode of Live from Stage 4 , hosts Victoria Goldberg and Dr. Ellen Landsberger sit down with Dr. Lior Braunstein, a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, to talk about the ARCHER trial, a first-of-its-kind clinical study...

Last time, we had a front row seat to a vision. This time, that vision has a launch date. On June 20th, CureWise officially launched, and for every cancer patient who walks into an oncologist's office with ten minutes and no idea what to ask, it couldn't come at a better time. In this episode of Live From Stage 4, Victoria Goldberg sits down with Steve Brown (founder & CEO of CureWis...

The field of hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer is moving faster than ever, and in this episode, we go beyond SERENA-6 to map the full picture of what's changing. Joining hosts Victoria Goldberg and Abigail Johnston is Dr. Sarah Premji, Assistant Director of Breast Cancer Research at Sarah Cannon in Nashville, for a comprehensive deep dive into the new wave of e...

In this episode of the Symptom Spotlight Series, hosts Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk are joined by Dr. Jill Tirabassi, this podcast's team member, to break down neutropenia. It is one of the most common and important side effects of cancer treatment. Dr. Tirabassi explains what neutropenia actually means, why neutrophils matter, and how chemotherapy and CDK 4/6 inhibitors can deprive your...

Two weeks ago, we broke down the ODAC vote on camizestrant and SERENA-6 with seven patient advocates. This week, we go deeper — bringing in the clinical and regulatory perspectives from two of the most qualified voices in the field. We're joined by Dr. Sarah Sammons , newly appointed Co-Leader of Breast Oncology at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center and former f...

After recording our earlier Symptoms Spotlight episodes on sleep and constipation, Melanie Sisk comes back with real-life updates that prove these topics hit closer to home than she expected. First, Melanie shares her surprising new diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, discovered thanks to a sharp-eyed friend at a cancer conference. She breaks down the symptoms to watch for, why they're so e...

The ODAC Vote on Camizestrant & SERENA-6: A Patient Advocate Panel Weighs In When the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 6-3 against recommending approval of camizestrant in the SERENA-6 trial setting, the MBC community had questions and opinions. Host Victoria gathered six of the most informed patient advocates in the metastatic breast cancer space for an unfiltered, expert c...

In this episode of Life from Stage IV , host Victoria Goldberg sits down with Dr. Fátima Cardoso, Breast oncologist and president of the ABC Global Alliance, to unpack a landmark decade of progress — and confront what still needs to change. The ABC Global Alliance's 10-year global report is out, and the findings are both encouraging and sobering. Survival rates have improved. Patient advocacy...

For a long time, the word "cure" and "metastatic breast cancer" didn't belong in the same sentence. That's changing — and nobody is better positioned to explain why than today's guest. Dr. Eric Winer is one of the world's leading breast cancer oncologists and researchers, former president of ASCO, and director of the Yale Cancer Center. In this conversation...

Every year, Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) brings together hundreds of people living with metastatic breast cancer for one of the most anticipated events in the MBC community, the Thriving Together MBC Conference. This year marked a milestone: the 20th anniversary. In this episode, the members of the podcast team Abigail Johnston, Dr. Jill Tirabassi, Dr. Ellen Landsberger, and Victoria Goldber...

Hair loss is one of the most emotionally complex side effects of cancer treatment — and in this episode of Symptom Spotlights, Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk are joined by Lisa Backus and Jill Tirabassi for an honest, practical conversation about navigating it. From complete hair loss due to chemotherapy (multiple times) to gradual thinning from hormone therapy and targeted treatment, each woma...

What happens when breast cancer spreads to the brain — and what can actually be done about it? In this episode, host Victoria Goldberg sits down with Dr. Nancy Lin, medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and one of the country's leading experts on metastatic breast cancer and brain metastasis. Dr. Lin breaks down the current treatment landscape for all subtypes — HER2+, ER+, and t...

If you've ever heard the words "palliative care" and incorrectly assumed it meant the end was near — this episode is for you. Abigail Johnston and Amy Parliament sit down with Dr. Mary Busowski, a palliative care physician at Orlando Health, to bust one of the most persistent myths in cancer care: that palliative medicine is the same as hospice. Dr. Busowski brings a rare perspectiv...