Our MBC Life

Send us Fan Mail What does it mean to truly show up for someone you love? In this episode, we explore friendship, uncertainty, and the power of being present. Featuring a moving conversation and a reading of Carpe Diem by  Rosemary Wahtola Trommer that reminds us to live fully in the moments we have.  We also talk about Temple of Kinship, a retreat designed for people living with metastatic breast...

Send us Fan Mail Cognitive changes are a common part of living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Symptoms like memory lapses, trouble concentrating, and mood shifts can impact daily life, work and relationships. In this episode, Dr. Rachael Freedman and Dr. Tammy Hshieh talks to us about what is behind the cognitive changes during treatment, and what healthy cognitive aging looks like for peopl...

Send us Fan Mail What do the latest findings from the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium mean for people living with metastatic breast cancer?  In this episode, Dr. Bora Lim of MD Anderson Cancer Center joins us to break down the most impactful research and clinical trial updates from SABCS 2025. Together we will explore advances in hormone receptor positive, HER2-positive disease and triple...

Send us Fan Mail Recent federal legislation about health insurance coverage will impact the breast cancer community.  Monica Bryant of Triage Cancer talks to us about changes to private insurance (through the ACA healthcare exchange marketplace) and publicly funded insurance including Medicare and Medicaid. We also discuss some of the potential ripple effects, including on cancer screening program...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode tackles a topic that is often misunderstood, palliative care. Many people hear the term and immediately think of end-of-life care but that’s not what palliative care is. In reality, it’s about improving quality of life, managing symptoms, and helping you live as fully and comfortably as possible, no matter where you are in your metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treatm...

Send us Fan Mail Our annual “We Remember” episode honors all who died from metastatic breast cancer since last October and gives voice to the grief and love that endures after each death. Each name shared is a tiny marker of a full & beloved life and each one leaves behind an expansive network of loved ones. For those of us in the MBC community, the loss of our friends is particularly devastat...

Send us Fan Mail In our Season 11 opening episode, we’re bringing you the latest updates from the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting on metastatic breast cancer. Dr. Ashley Schreier, breast oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, breaks down key research and explains what it could mean for people living with MBC. Topics include: Research results for hormone therapy options like camizestrant The role of ESR1 m...

Send us Fan Mail Join us for a candid & heartfelt discussion with certified death doula and fellow MBCer Deltra James as she shares how death doulas support us in facing mortality with less fear and more intention. We also chat about her six week virtual course, “The Good Grim: Exploring end of life, facing fears, and living fiercely”, offered free through Project Life for those living with MB...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Our MBC Life , we sit down with Dr. Kelly Shanahan, the president of METAvivor, a U.S. nonprofit solely dedicated to funding research for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) while also supporting patients through advocacy and community. Our guest shares METAvivor’s mission, their biggest milestones, and how their work is driving critical research that aims to extend...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of Our MBC Life features Stephanie Walker and Julia Maués of the Patient-Centered Dosing Initiative team who have been working on the 2025 reboot of its groundbreaking 2020 patient survey. Julia and Stephanie break down how treatment doses are typically determined during clinical trials and why individualized dosing, based on more than your diagnosis, is so important...

Send us Fan Mail Senior Producer & Host Martha Carlson interviews Josh Newby, the founder of Theresa’s Research Foundation. Josh has been a leader in the world of metastatic breast cancer advocacy for over a decade, focusing energy on bringing MBC research scientists and patient advocates together in an effort to improve our lives. To paraphrase Josh, researchers need patients and patients nee...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to our Season 10 opening episode! Today we’re discussing some of the big updates in metastatic breast cancer research from the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). Joining us today is Dr. Debu Tripathy, breast oncologist at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who will break down into understandable terms some of the most impactful findings shared...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to our first "Our MBC Life Unplugged" episode, where we wrap up the fall season with an honest, unscripted conversation. What happens when someone is told they might actually be cured? It’s what we all dream of hearing, but when we started talking, it opened a Pandora’s box of questions and concerns: Is a cure really possible? Should I go off treatment? What if t...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve never heard of Postpartum Breast Cancer (PPBC) – well, you are not alone. This episode is a personal one for many on our podcast team – it is all about this little-known subset of breast cancer called Postpartum Breast Cancer (Postpartum means “following childbirth”) – how it happens, and why it creates a higher risk for metastatic spread and death. The doctors we interv...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered how our cancer metastasizes? Why is it that some treatments just don’t work? Can we as patients living with MBC alter cellular level activity? In this episode, you will hear the answers to these questions and more. Join us as we take a step back to the basics of tumor microenvironment with our guest, Dr. Amy Beumer, who will break down the science to smaller...

Send us Fan Mail Each October, Our MBC Life marks Breast Cancer Awareness month with a special episode dedicated to all those who died from metastatic breast cancer over the past year.  To live with your own diagnosis or to be a loved one, caregiver, or friend of someone with MBC is to inhabit a community of loss. Every day, we confront the reality of mortality and struggle to balance fear with ho...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Senior Producer and Host Martha Carlson embraces the hope that we can do something to help our closest relatives avoid metastatic breast cancer and even early-stage breast cancer. Despite living with no known inheritable mutation associated with breast cancer risk, Martha has MBC and her Mom recently died of the same disease. Now, her 20-something oldest child has...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, we are thrilled to discuss an important and often misunderstood area of oncology: Biosimilars and their increasing use in cancer care. You might be curious, what exactly are biosimilars? How are they developed and approved? And most importantly, how are they transforming the lives of patients diagnosed with cancer?  We will break down these questions and m...

Send us Fan Mail For our Season 9 opening episode, we're learning about agnostic  treatments in cancer with Dr. Richard Schilsky of ASCO, who discusses the  TAPUR Study. You may wonder, what is TAPUR and how does it relate to agnostic treatments?  The pioneer behind the study, Dr. Schilsky, explains clinical trials for agnostic therapeutics, how you can join a TAPUR trial, and what to expect....

Send us Fan Mail Tumor-agnostic therapies represent a radical shift in oncology. They abandon the traditional way of treating tumors based on cancer type and, instead, provide personalized options based on the genetic mutations. Today’s podcast is the 1st part of a 2-part series dedicated to agnostic treatments in cancer. Join us as Dr. Joshua Drago of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center shares...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we’re bringing you a very special episode created in partnership with SHARE Cancer Support. This is an audio version of our Webinar Report Back from ASCO 2024: Latest Updates on Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC).  We're excited to present this report from the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, highlighting the latest advancements and research in hormone receptor positive (HR+)  me...

Send us Fan Mail Research has shown that self-advocates are more likely to receive better care and have their medical questions and problems addressed. We're excited to bring you this episode, focusing on a crucial aspect of managing metastatic breast cancer—understanding blood test results. Blood tests are vital in cancer care, offering insights into our health, monitoring treatment effectiv...

Send us Fan Mail There’s a lot of research about how diet and exercise can have a positive effect on survivorship for those with early-stage breast cancer, but what about those of us with MBC? In this episode, we are delighted to bring you a conversation with Dr. Neil Iyengar, a prominent oncologist and researcher known for his deep interest in how lifestyle affects a variety of outcomes. Emerging...

Send us Fan Mail In the third of our special series on living with bone metastases, we are turning to one of the most frequent questions and concerns we hear: Can I exercise??  To get the answers, OMBCL co-hosts Ashley Fernandez and Martha Carlson spoke with Dr. Kathryn Schmitz, who has led the way in understanding and implementing exercise for people with breast cancer, including those of us with...

Send us Fan Mail In this second of three episodes on managing bone metastases in MBC, we bring you a broad review of the major interventions to treat and manage bone mets. We explain the differences among the specialties of Radiology (think x-rays and PET/CT scans) vs. Radiation Oncology (external beam, Stereotactic Radiation Surgery (SRS) or Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) and Interven...