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Metastatic Breast Cancer Project Overview

While breast cancer is a high-profile disease, receiving significant private and public research funding and focused awareness and prevention initiatives, patients with metastatic breast cancer face unique challenges. According to the Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Alliance “public messaging about the [breast cancer] ‘cure’ and survivorship is so pervasive that people diagnosed at stage IV with metastatic breast cancer can be stigmatized by the perception that they’ve failed to take care of themselves or undergo annual screening.” In addition, many metastatic breast cancer patients face a number of communication challenges, including:

A perception that their cancer is curable, driven in part by a low-level of engagement during conversations with providers
Providers who use overly vague or overly technical medical language
Providers who may “minimize” the severity of the disease, perhaps in efforts to reduce patient distress or help patients stay positive, engaged, and compliant with treatment recommendations.

Project Goals

Specific project goals include:

expand the current breast cancer conversation to address gaps between early and metastatic disease
improve the treatment and management of metastatic breast cancer in the community setting
highlight effective telehealth solutions to improve access to services and care for patients diagnosed and living with metastatic breast cancer

For more information on this project, please contact the ACCC Provider Education department.

Publication

Successful Delivery of Services Through Telehealth: A Focus on Symptom Management, Psychological Health, and Genetic Counseling in Metastatic Breast Cancer

ACCC members share how they are successfully implementing telehealth to manage symptoms and treatment side effects, deliver psychosocial screening and support services, and provide genetic counseling and testing.
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Video Podcast

[VIDEO PODCAST] Ep 07: Genetic Testing & Telehealth
Oct 21, 2021

Guest:
Katie Lemas, MS, CGC
Certified Genetic Counselor
Genome Medical

On this episode, we’ll hear what genetic counselors wish providers would say to their patients. We’ll uncover a few common barriers to genetic counseling and testing for patients with cancer and—from the genetic counselor’s perspective—how providers can help improve the uptake of testing delivered via telehealth to educate, inform, and improve patient care.

On-Demand Webinars

Abstracts & Presentations

[Abstract #186] Multidisciplinary Cancer Teams and Utilization of Resources for Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC): A Landscape Analysis Sep 7, 2019
Presented at the 2019 ASCO Quality Care Symposium in San Diego, CA.
[Abstract] The Unique Support Path for Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Jun 30, 2018
Presented at the 2018 Multinational Association of Supportive Cancer Care (MASCC) and International Society of Oral Oncology (ISOO) Annual Meeting in Vienna, Austria.

Featured Resources

Find Metastatic Breast Cancer Resources Fast

The new, online ACCC Metastatic Breast Cancer Resource Library connects you to curated materials (webinars, articles, blogs, and more) specific to supporting your MBC patients through specialized support tools and tailored education.

Search by topic, resource type (e.g., webinar, article, blog, tool), point of care, or by the effective practices identified in the ACCC Metastatic Breast Cancer project workbook—then share these nationally available, free resources with your patients.
Explore the Resource Library

Metastatic Breast Cancer: Effective Principles in Action

Building on principles to reframe the patient-provider conversation identified in the Metastatic Breast Cancer Workbook, Metastatic Breast Cancer: Effective Principles in Action explores how three differently structured cancer programs are creating and evolving approaches to implementing these principles.
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ACCC thanks the following member programs for their participation:

Cowell Family Cancer Center Munson Healthcare, Traverse City, Michigan
Koontz Center for Advanced Breast Cancer, Saint Luke's Health System, Kansas City, Missouri
Providence Cancer Institute, Providence Health & Services, Portland, Oregon

Multidisciplinary MBC Summit: Executive Summary

Patients with metastatic breast cancer have unique needs that are not always best served by the supportive care offerings made available to other breast cancer patients. Determining the most pressing needs of this patient group, prioritizing those needs, and equitably distributing resources to meet the needs was the goal of the ACCC Metastatic Breast Cancer Summit, held October 7, 2019, in Washington, D.C.

Invitees included individuals from across the multidisciplinary cancer care team, including social workers, nurse practitioners, oncologists, chaplains, patient advocates, and financial navigators. After a day rich in discussion and interaction, the group came together to identify a series of actions that, if enacted, could significantly enhance the care of women with metastatic breast cancer.
Download Executive Summary

Multidisciplinary Team Communication Survey Highlights

ACCC conducted a Multidisciplinary Team Communication in MBC survey of over 100 care team members—representing 86 unique cancer programs—that measured progress and assessed areas for continued improvement in caring for patients with metastatic disease.

Download Survey Highlights

Workbook & Case Studies

Metastatic Breast Cancer: Effective Principles & Practices in Patient Support includes key highlights from the project's environmental scan, a communication process map that integrates 6 effective principles into the care continuum, helping to reframe and improve the conversation between providers and patients, and examples of how ACCC Cancer Program members are putting these principles into action to deliver holistic, patient-centered care.
Download Workbook
ACCC thanks the following member programs for their participation:

Gibbs Cancer Center, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Providence Cancer Center, Portland, Oregon
Sanford Cancer Center, Fargo, South Dakota