S09 E06 The Project to End Postpartum Breast Cancer

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 interview here have proven that Postpartum Breast Cancer is a distinct category of breast cancer diagnosed in women within 10 years of having a baby. It affects 18,000 women in the US a year (that’s almost the same as ovarian cancer diagnoses in the US), and can happen across all subtypes, like hormone +/-, HER2+/-, or triple negative disease. *50%* of women diagnosed with breast cancer under age 45 in the US are actually diagnosed within a 10-year Postpartum window – 50%! Postpartum breast cancer also carries a higher risk for metastasis and death than breast cancer diagnosed outside this 10-year window. Now, Dr. Virginia Borges & Dr. Pepper Schedin are ready to move all their lab findings into the clinic by launching the first-in-human clinical trial to prevent Postpartum Breast Cancer – by giving healthy moms ibuprofen – yes, ibuprofen, for a brief period of time as they wean their babies from nursing. This is a groundbreaking clinical trial idea, with huge potential global impact, and they need the public's help to make it happen.
To learn more about this project and read the episode notes, visit our website, Our MBC Life.