Breastcancer.org Podcast

Actress Miranda McKeon was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer at age 19, just as she was starting her sophomore year of college. She talks about her experiences with diagnosis and treatment, as well as how she balanced presenting herself to her peers in a way that felt authentic when she was living an experience that was completely foreign to her. Listen to the episode to hear Miranda explain:...

Julia Maués didn’t decide to become an advocate, but her passion for patients learning science and scientists learning patient experiences propelled her to talk about her experiences. Listen to the episode to hear Julia explain: the breast changes that led to her diagnosis how she and her doctors decided on treatments why she and Christine Hodgdon founded GRASP Cancer

Eleonora Teplinsky’s oncology practice has focused on people with breast cancer for more than a decade. Her new book, Beyond the Pink: Navigating Life, Health, and Breast Cancer, explains breast cancer risks, screening, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as topics that may not be discussed by all doctors. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Teplinsky explain: what makes her book different from other...

Dr. Luba Perry is the founder and CEO of ReConstruct Bio, where she’s working to develop bioengineered living tissue implants made from a person’s own cells that then integrate with the body as living tissue. The first goal is to develop natural implants for breast reconstruction. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Perry explain: how human tissue can be created in the lab why she and her colleagues...

An advocate and communications expert with more than 20 years experience in international corporate marketing, Christina Wilhelm wrote It’s Breast Cancer, Now What? as a manual to help people navigate breast cancer treatment, return-to-work, and long-term follow-up care decisions.  Listen to the episode to hear Christina explain: what makes her book different fro...

Barbara Edwards was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2013. In 2017, she started the Rose M. Turknett Cancer Network to honor her youngest sister, who died from breast cancer in 2009 at age 43. Today, she travels around the country with her bedazzled pink boxing gloves, helping people with cancer, especially people living in underserved areas, find the resources and informa...

Studies show that rates of certain cancers, including breast cancer, are rising in adolescents and young adults, meaning people between the ages of 15 and 39. While the increase is likely due to a combination of factors, some explanations include obesity, more sedentary lifestyles, chest radiation, alcohol consumption, and genetics. Rebecca Johnson, MD, medical director of the Adolescent and...

After three silver and two bronze medals at the previous four Olympic Games, Elana Meyers Taylor won her first gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics at age 41. She’s joining Breastcancer.org as an ambassador for the Ultimate Teammate campaign, helping people understand how to lower their breast cancer risk and take charge of their breast health. Listen to the episode to hear Elana talk...

Oligometastatic breast cancer is breast cancer that’s spread to parts of the body away from the breast, like the bones or liver, but there are only a few small cancer lesions at the metastatic site. Dr. Jennifer Plichta, of Duke University, was the corresponding author of a paper looking at treatments for oligometastatic breast cancer, including surgery to remove the primary tumor in the breast an...

At the Living Beyond Breast Cancer 2026 Conference on Metastatic Breast Cancer, five members of the Breastcancer.org metastatic virtual support groups shared what they’d tell someone who’s just been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. They talked to us about the importance of having hope allowing yourself to grieve, seeking out support, and knowing that you’re never alone.

At the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting poster session, we asked four scientists to discuss their research. Listen to the episode to hear: Peter Stanfield, of the University of Wisconsin, explains his research on cancer screening rates in transgender and gender-diverse people. Nico Gotera, of the University of Texas Health Science Center, explains research on GLP-1 medicin...

Felicia Marie Knaul, PhD, is a global health researcher whose work focuses on strengthening health systems, advancing gender equity, and improving access to care for those who need it most. She’s also lived through a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and that experience informs her efforts to transform health systems around the world. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Knaul discuss: her exper...

Eleonora Teplinsky, MD, is the head of breast and gynecologic medical oncology and Valley-Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center in Paramus, New Jersey, as well as an ASCO breast cancer expert. She explained the most compelling research results on breast cancer presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Teplinsky explain: the impo...

At the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Dr. Jennifer Ligibel, director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, presented early results from the Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) study. The findings showed that among women with early-stage breast cancer, losing weight led to better physical and mental...

Results from the OPTIMA trial suggest that people with early-stage hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that seems to have a high risk of recurrence based on clinical features — like a high number of positive lymph nodes — may be able to safely skip chemotherapy if they have a low Prosigna risk of recurrence score. The findings were presented at the 2026 American Society of Clini...

At the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, Megan-Claire Chase, known as Warrior Megsie on social media, was one of the speakers at the ASCO Voices session. In her talk, she explained how her views on clinical trials shifted after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Listen to the episode to hear Megsie explain: some of the reasons why the Black community distrusts th...

Dr. Michael Stubblefield is a cancer rehabilitation expert and Dr. Joseph Dayan is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has pioneered techniques to ease lymphedema with surgery. They’re both very interested in how the GLP-1 medicines, like Ozempic, Wegovey, Zepbound, Mounjaro, Victoza, and Trulicity — just to name a few — could be used to manage lymphedema. Listen to the episode to hear Drs. S...

Dr. Dipali Sharma and her team published two papers that found links between bacteria, including F. nucleatum, the bacterium that causes periodontal disease, and the development of breast cancer. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Sharma explain: her work to figure out how bacteria travel from the gut or mouth to the breast the changes the bacteria cause in breast cells why breast cells with BRCA1...

Dr. Brock Hewitt is a surgeon who specializes in treating cancerous and non-cancerous tumors in the liver and other internal organs. One of the techniques he uses is histotripsy. He’s published a number of papers on the procedure and its effectiveness. Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Hewitt explain: how histotripsy works and why it’s only used to treat liver tumors how doctors decide if histotri...

In Caitlin Shetterly’s latest novel, the main character has been diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast. Six months after sending in her draft, Shetterly was diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast. Breast cancer had broken the fourth wall between Shetterly, her characters, and her readers. Listen to the episode to hear Caitlin explain: how she came up with the idea of her charact...

For some people a breast cancer diagnosis can bring on a rush of feelings: grief, anxiety, fear, hope, resentment, and anger. This podcast is the audio from a special Virtual Community Meetup featuring guest moderator Kelly Grosklags. Listen to the episode to hear Kelly explain: why some people might feel more anxious after treatment is completed why feelings about a cancer diagnosis can be a form...

Peripheral neuropathy is damage to the nerves that run to your hands, feet, arms, and legs. Neuropathy can cause burning pain, numbness, tingling, or muscle weakness in the areas that are affected. Chemotherapy, especially medicines called taxanes – Taxol, Taxotere, and Abraxane – are common causes of neuropathy in people receiving breast cancer treatment. While there are treatments that may help...

Secreted frizzled-related protein 2 is a protein that helps cancers grow by supporting the formation of new blood vessels, stopping cancer cells from dying, and weakening immune cells that should recognize and attack cancer cells. Dr. Nancy Klauber-DeMore is developing an antibody that blocks this protein. Early research suggests the antibody may halt the growth of triple-negative breast cancer. L...

Twenty years ago, seven people diagnosed with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer received a cancer vaccine as part of a clinical trial. Today, they’re all still alive. This prompted Zachary Hartman to study the immune systems of the people in the trial to see what was happening. He found that the women had immune cells that continue to recognize the cancer and keep it under control. Now his go...

This bonus episode is the audio from a Breastcancer.org webinar. There are steps you can take to help prevent treatment-related hair loss, promote hair regrowth, and find confidence again. In this Breastcancer.org webinar, learn how different treatment types affect hair, preventing or reducing hair loss, what to expect for regrowth, tips for coping, and advice for finding and wearing a wig that's...