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BCAC welcomes the Breast Cancer Foundation’s new survey to learn more about the long-term side effects of treatments for early breast cancer. ‘It’s good to see more research on the experiences of NZ women with breast cancer’ says BCAC Chair Libby Burgess. ‘We encourage you to participate in this research if you can.’ Update 1 May 2023: the survey has now closed. You can learn more about the results by contacting the Breast Cancer Foundation at intouch@bcf.org.nz Read more about the survey and the Foundation’s research here and below.
Otago University PhD student Hui Yee Yao is collaborating with Auckland-based medical oncologist Dr Catherine Han on a research project to provide insights on how New Zealanders diagnosed with breast cancer choose their treatments. Hui Yee is looking for survey participants now. Click here to learn more.
The study will examine the health-related quality of life of breast cancer patients as well as factors influencing the uptake of treatments, including trade-offs between benefits and side-effects, willingness to pay and willingness to wait.
But there’s no need to panic. The Good Registry makes gift buying easy. They issue gift certificates which can be redeemed by donating to one of their charity partners – like BCAC! Click here to see how to complete your Christmas shopping from your desk. By donating to BCAC this Christmas, your friends and family can help us to keep supporting, informing and representing kiwi women with breast cancer.
BCAC recently contributed to an analysis of the early breast cancer pathway in Aotearoa New Zealand. This project was conducted by The Economist’s Impact team, a research group that provides country, industry and management analysis worldwide. They were commissioned to independently analyse New Zealand’s early breast cancer pathway, using existing data and expert input, to identify any opportunities for improvement. New Zealand participants included clinical specialists in surgery, radiation and medical oncology and breast screening, as well as Māori Cancer Leadership Hei Āhuru Mōwai, BCAC and the Breast Cancer Foundation.
Four main areas of focus were population awareness, screening and diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.
BCAC’s 16th AGM on Tuesday evening went very well. We can’t say the venue was packed – as it was held completely online – but our screens were very busy and the comments section was filled with positive feedback! Chairperson Libby Burgess gave a great overview – you can see her presentation here and our Annual Report here.
Here’s an easy way to get Christmas gifts organised well in advance and to help BCAC at the same time. By clicking here you can buy gift certificates for those friends and family who already have everything they need, but would get a great feeling knowing they are helping women with breast cancer. The Good Registry is a great volunteer organisation set up by some Wellington women who are passionate about doing good. They issue gift certificates which can be redeemed by donating to one of their charity partners – like BCAC! By donating to BCAC this Christmas, your friends and family can help us to keep supporting, informing and representing kiwi women with breast cancer.
NZ breast cancer specialists, assisted by the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, have just published a new set of consensus guidelines for treating advanced breast cancer (ABC-NZ2). Patient representatives from Metavivors NZ, Sweet Louise and BCAC also contributed to the guidelines.
Oncologist Dr Marion Kuper, who chaired the team producing the guidelines, says “We’ve created these guidelines to be a framework for everyone involved in the treatment of ABC, including clinicians, patients and government health organisations. They provide an evidence-based summary of what NZ clinicians consider best practice to manage ABC, a complex disease requiring specialist care, if we are to help our patients live as long as possible with the best possible quality of life.”
Christmas is coming! But don’t panic – BCAC’s partnership with The Good Registry can make gift-giving easy this year. By clicking here you can buy gift certificates for those friends and family who already have everything they need, but would get a great feeling knowing they are helping women with breast cancer. The Good Registry is a great volunteer organisation set up by some Wellington women who are passionate about doing good. They issue gift certificates which can be redeemed by donating to one of their charity partners – like BCAC! By donating to BCAC this Christmas, your friends and family can help us to keep supporting, informing and representing kiwi women with breast cancer.
BCAC Committee members Fay Sowerby, Libby Burgess and Emma Crowley attended the Breast Cancer inSIGhts conference on 1-3 September 2022 in Auckland. This biennial conference is run by the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ and the Breast Special Interest Group of NZ specialists.
It was wonderful to be able to attend in person after being at so many online events over the last two years. We were able to network with breast nurses, radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, pathologists and psychologists from across Aotearoa as well as Australia. We also heard from policy makers from Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Whatu Ora. There were some great international speakers, some presenting in person and others online.
Dr Emma Nolan is a breast cancer scientist who recently moved back to New Zealand after training and working in overseas labs for the last 11 years. During her PhD, Emma helped to discover a potential preventative medication, Denosumab, that could potentially prevent or delay breast cancer arising in high-risk women who inherit a faulty BRCA1 gene. This exciting finding led to the initiation of the first-ever international phase III breast cancer prevention study for BRCA1-mutation carriers, which began recruitment in 2018. See here for more on this.
