Prof. Christopher Twelves, MD: Research Advances in Metastatic Breast Cancer from ASCO 2011
Professor Christopher Twelves, MD is Clinical Dir. & Prof. of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology & Oncology, & Head, Clinical Cancer Research Groups, Leeds Inst. of Molecular Medicine & St James’s Inst. of Oncology. Prof. Twelves gives an overview of the research advances in metastatic breast cancer.
The Group Room at the 2011 American Association For Cancer Research Annual Meeting was made possible, in part, by:
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Selma R. Schimmel, Founder& CEO, Vital Options International
This is Selma Schimmel at the 2011annual ASCO meeting in Chicago, and we are beginning our interviews with many of the most prominent key opinion leaders so we can bring you firsthand information directly from the source. I am so happy to be able to welcome you now, Professor and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology, Dr. Christopher Twelves. Hello, Dr. Twelves.
Professor Christopher Twelves, MD, Deputy Dir. of Cancer Research, St. James’sHospital, Leeds, UK
Hello, nice to meet you.
Selma R. Schimmel:
You are also the Head of Experimental Cancer Medicine at the St. James’s Institute of Oncology in Leeds, which is the United Kingdom.
Professor Christopher Twelves:
That’s right, that’s right.
Selma R. Schimmel:
Such an exciting time to be a researcher…
Professor Christopher Twelves:
It really is, and I’ve been fortunate to be treating women with breast cancer now for over 25 years. And if I think back and break that up into 5-year blocks of time and think, where were we 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago? It really is quite dramatic how things have changed. There’s been a step wise improvement in survival, in the quality of life for patients, and the drugs that we give to control the side effects of chemotherapy. And when I see young doctors now I’m afraid I indulge in some nostalgia and will tell them what things were like a generation ago.
Selma R. Schimmel:
I can tell you what they were like a generation ago.
Professor Christopher Twelves:
Well, I think that’s very important because for many womenwho are diagnosed now, many of them, their experience with breast cancer will be indirect and will come from their mothers or their aunts. And I think it is important that people realize just how things have moved on from the earlier generation.
Selma R. Schimmel:
20-years ago when you would sit down with a woman with metastatic breast cancer, the way you would have a discussion had to be so very different than the way you would have a discussion today. So, how would you speak to a patient today, as difficult as it is to learn you have metastatic disease, give me an example of the kind of very brief few sentences you would say to someone to inspire that sense of hope?
Professor Christopher Twelves:
Well the, I guess, the 2 pieces of news that patients with cancer least want to hear, or the first one is that they have cancer, and the second one is that their cancer has come back. And, in many ways, in the setting of breast cancer, the news that the cancer has come back, if that means that the cancer has spread elsewhere, in many ways, that can be the more difficult and the worst piece of news because when most women are diagnosed we’re able to tell that women the hope, if not the guarantee, but the hope is that we can cure them of their disease. Unfortunately, when the woman develops metastatic disease the tables are turned and we have sadly to admit to share with the women that we expect and hope to be able to cure their disease… Sorry. The situation when we tell the woman that she’s got metastatic disease is quite the other way around, and we have to explain to those women and let them understand that we can’t cure their diseasebut that we can hope, we can be confident to control their disease.
Selma R. Schimmel:
And also, every day that a woman lives we do not know what new event can happen in the lab.
Professor Christopher Twelves:
There’s always things that are developing, and for many patients, I think, one of the things that I certainly try and reassure them is that the vast majority of women, when they’re diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, they’re not in any immediate danger. I’m always very concerned that women, they have a sense that their cancer is spreading through their body as they sat there, that they’re not going to make it to the end of the week, never mind the end of the year.
Selma R. Schimmel:
There’s a real adjustment. At first, you go through the mental part of just absorbing the shock and you get your footing back, I believe. Once you realize there is a tomorrow and I’m waking up again, and while today is a difficult day, and you’re not sure what’s going to happen from day to day, you do get your stride, you do get some confidence, and you learn to coexist, but you have to go through this adaptation period, and it is hard.
Professor Christopher Twelves:
And every ache or pain or cough or cold, and people, very often, they’re anxious as to just what this may mean. So, we’re always very keen and we always reassure patients that if they feel anything is out of the ordinary, to come back to us so that we can look into this and then hopefully be able to reassure them. Or if we’re not able to, then start getting on top of things again.
Selma R. Schimmel:
What I really appreciated about my interview with you is that you really showed us a very human side, not only on behalf of the patients but about you and that you see us as more than just our cancer but that you to take the time to go and to do the events and to want to see your patients in their natural setting, because cancer can be very dehumanizing. Despite your clinical focus, you’ve got a real human quality about you. Thank you.
Professor Christopher Twelves:
Thank you very much.
Selma R. Schimmel:
Professor, Dr. Christopher Twelves; Head of Experimental Cancer Medicine, The Center at St. James’s Institute of Oncology, Leeds, United Kingdom.
Professor Christopher Twelves:
Thank you very much.
END OF VIDEO