Chris Poulios, Steering Committee Member of Young Cancer Professionals at the European Cancer Organisation, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Online roundtable for breast cancer in women with dense breasts: personal reflections
It was a pleasure to co-chair with Paola Clauser today’s roundtable from the European Cancer Organisation and European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI)!
A great way to celebrate the BreastCancerAwarenessMonth!
This roundtable brought views from a multidisciplinary perspective:
Radiology: Thiemo van Nijnatten
Pathology: Balázs Ács
Oncology/Surgery: Ina Suppan
But most importantly, we had the perspective of the patient: Bengi Kepkep
Personal outtakes:
Talk! Talk with your patient, with your team, with colleagues from other specialties! Communication, transparency for procedures, risk-assessment, presentation of benefits and drawbacks of medical procedures, understanding the stakes outside your own professional field, are all a must!
Many misunderstandings and peculiar views could have been avoided if cancer-related information was presented with transparency to patients and their care givers.
This is linked to the 3 below:
- Interdisciplinary collaboration. Sounds a bit banal and is repeated on many similar outtakes, but I cannot stress enough its importance non the less! No matter how bright you are, a brain has so much capacity and the developments in medicine fly at speed is impossible to follow. To learn about other specialties is not just to satisfy curiosity, but how to improve yourself on how to collaborate.
- Proper update of screening guidelines. These need take into consideration not only the current updates in science, but also to be drafted with a multi-stakeholder approach and to take into account the patient experiences
- Each patient has their own life goals. Treatment and management have to be adapted to the needs of the patient. We are aware that first priority is survival, but well-being must not fall behind! This has many angles, including phycology, ability to work and have a social life, mobility, fertility, and even finances. In other words, quality of life!
This is why I am not in favour of the term “cancer survivor” but prefer “cancer winner”! It takes guts to beat cancer, but it truly requires inner strength and external support to win life after cancer! To say “I am still standing, better than I ever did!”
My gratitude to all panellists for their contribution, my appreciation to the ECO team for their support, and thank you to all who joined us!
The roundtable was recorded and will be made available via the ECO website.”
