Real Pink Susan G. Komen

This is Real Talk, a podcast conversation where we’re digging deep into breast cancer and the realities patients and survivors face every day. We’re talking openly and honestly about just how difficult breast cancer can be, from being diagnosed to selecting the right treatment plan, to living day to day with metastatic breast cancer, and life after treatment ends.


In today’s episode, we’re encouraging everyone to take a break. A breast cancer diagnosis and treatment and life thereafter can be exhausting. All the appointments and procedures and follow-ups and bills, on top of the emotional and physical challenges of cancer, is overwhelming.


Sam Lazar Rivello is a Stage 2b breast cancer survivor who learned how to accept help and support from others during her diagnosis and treatment. Through the outpouring of love from those around her, she could focus on overcoming cancer.


Esther Tambe and her sister Alicia co-founded Fight Thru Flights, an organization that provides free wellness retreats and travel experiences for Black women living with breast cancer. Their goal is to improve the wellness and mental health of Black women who are impacted by this disease.

No two breast cancers are the same, and researchers have come a long way in understanding what makes each breast tumor unique. This is the entire premise behind personalized medicine. By looking at a tumor’s biomarkers, doctors can tailor their patient’s treatment to best fight their unique tumor. On today’s show, we’ll be discussing biomarkers that doctors look for in breast tumors and how they use them to design a treatment plan. We’ll also hear about a new twist on an old biomarker, the estrogen receptor, and how it’s being put into clinical practice. Joining us today to share her expertise is Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, M.D. Dr. Kaklamani is a professor of medicine and leader of the Breast Cancer Program at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.

We still have a long way to go to conquer breast cancer, but we have made some big advances that are saving lives and making a difference. A new modeling study has recently published that the mortality rate for U.S. women with breast cancer decreased an estimated 58 percent between 1975 and 2019. Joining us on today’s show is Jennifer Caswell-Jin, MD who is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Standford Medicine, a former Komen grantee specializing in breast cancer care and research and a lead author on the study that published these findings. Dr. Caswell-Jin will help us understand why the mortality rate has gone down, the barriers that exist in getting the rate down further and what the future of breast cancer advancement looks like from her perspective.

March is Women’s History Month so it’s fitting that we talk about how Susan G. Komen started off making history and continues to make history as an organization dedicated to achieving health equity. At its inception in 1982, Komen started as a health equity organization dedicated to supporting women, at a time when even saying the word “breast” was taboo and women’s health was simply not centered. Since then, Komen has doubled down on its health equity focus and works to advance and ultimately achieve health equity for historically marginalized or underrepresented communities. Joining us today is Cati Diamond Stone, vice president of community health at Komen to talk about Komen’s origin story and how that work continues today.

1 in 5 women who have had breast cancer surgery and treatment are at risk for developing a potentially detrimental side effect of breast cancer – breast cancer related lymphedema— a condition in which lymphatic fluid gets trapped in lymph vessels and causes chronic arm swelling leading to reduced quality of life for many. We are thrilled to be joined today by two guests to help educate us on this topic: Dr. Steven Chen, a practicing surgeon, Chief Medical Officer at Impedimed, and past president of American Society of Breast Surgeons and Kathy Lahr, a patient advocate who will be sharing her personal experience with breast cancer related lymphedema.

Starting treatment for breast cancer can be overwhelming and you might feel scared or alone. Often, hearing from people who have been diagnosed themselves can help provide a sense of safety and support. Tune into the latest episode of Real Pink to hear fitness trainer Amanda Butler share some inspiration and advice about what helped her get through treatment.