Maria João Cardoso: Cinderella Project Involves Patients in Predicting Aesthetic Outcomes of Breast Cancer Surgery
Maria João Cardoso/LinkedIn

Maria João Cardoso: Cinderella Project Involves Patients in Predicting Aesthetic Outcomes of Breast Cancer Surgery

Maria João Cardoso, Breast Cancer Research Program Director at BCRP Champalimaud Foundation and International Coordinator of Cinderella Project, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Although my professional life is much more than a single project, Cinderella Project marked a true turning point. For the first time, patients were directly involved in predicting the aesthetic outcomes of their own breast cancer surgery. This has never been done before.
It opens a new path — for patients and for healthcare professionals – toward more transparent, informed, and shared decision-making.

It can be uncomfortable.

  • For doctors, because it means confronting outcomes we cannot always anticipate.
  • For patients, because it means seeing not only the best-case scenario, but also the possible downsides.

But CINDERELLA is a choice. It is a support tool — never an imposition.

What we are learning from these patient-generated data, images, and experiences goes far beyond a single study. It points to a future where real-world patient input continuously feeds knowledge, improves prediction, and helps others facing the same decisions. We will bring CINDERELLA to the world — responsibly, ethically, and together with those it is meant to serve.

Nothing could have been done without a A team Oreste Davide Gentilini, Orit Kaidar-Person , Prof. Dr. Timo Schinköthe , Jaime Cardoso , Oriana Ciani , Joerg Heil, André Pfob, MD Maciej Bobowicz Paweł Kabata MD, PhD , Marilia Antunes (and all the other CINDERELLA consortium members) and the support of my home team Helena Cruz , Eduard-Alexandru Bonci, Carlos Mavioso, Pedro Gouveia, David Pinto and of our Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) – Champalimaud Foundation at and our incredible outreach team Andreia Pinho, Catarina Ramos, Teresa Fernandes.

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