Micro-CT, short for Micro-Focus X-Ray Computed Tomography, is a 3D imaging method first developed for industrial and archeological applications that has only recently been explored in medical settings. To learn more about micro-CT’s potential, Dr. Matt Birnholz sits down with Dr. Ankur Tiwari, surgical resident at the University of Texas-San Antonio and first author of a study investigating the role of micro-CT in imaging breast cancer specimens.

While most references on breast cancer relapse consider the first decade after diagnosis, less is known beyond the 10-year interval. Dr. Annesophie Vertongen and colleagues aimed to bridge this gap by determining whether known risk factors for early breast cancer relapse would also predict for later events, as Dr. Matt Birnholz learns throughout his discussion with Dr. Vertongen.

Joining Dr. Matt Birnholz is medical oncologist Dr. Antonio di Meglio, whose research team pursued questions on the extent to which patient lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption, change in the months and years following breast cancer diagnosis.

Given the sobering statistic that patients treated for breast cancer have a 30 percent lifetime risk of developing incurable, distant metastatic disease, Dr. Matt Birnholz sits down with Isoris Nivar to learn more about his study, which assessed breast cancer survivors’ willingness to know their disseminated tumor cell (DTC) status, undergo bone marrow aspiration, and enroll in a therapeutic trial toward reducing disease recurrence.

With only one handout generated to inform patients on expectable pain levels post-surgery, Dr. Katie Egan's team witnessed a 30 percent reduction in opioid consumption. Could interventions like this signal new hope for combatting the opioid epidemic nationwide? That’s the question Dr. Matt Birnholz explores with Dr. Egan.

Though cannabidiol (CBD) has long been recognized in the oncological field as a palliative therapeutic agent, only recently has it been demonstrated to induce anti-tumor responses in breast cancer. To learn more, Dr. Matt Birnholz is joined by Dr. Luka Dobovisek, whose recent study looked at the effect of CBD on cell viability of selected breast cancer cell lines, both as a single agent and in combinations with breast cancer therapies such as tamoxifen.

Despite the increasing number of elderly patients diagnosed with breast cancer, few clinical trials focus on this age group. That’s why Dr. Slavica Janeva's team focused on the impacts of adjuvant chemotherapy on survival rates in this patient population, the results of which may change clinical practice paradigms moving forward, as he discusses with Dr. Matt Birnholz.

Recorded live at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dr. Matt Birnholz sat down with Dr. Nadine Tung, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Cancer Risk and Prevention Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, to talk about her presentation on genetic testing for hereditary breast cancer.

Known for his early drug development research for breast cancer, Dr. Giuseppe Curigliano joins Dr. Matt Birnholz at the 2019 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Barcelona, Spain to talk about the latest research in treatment developments for triple-negative breast cancer as well as insights on what’s coming ahead on the future horizons for this cancer subtype.