BREAST HEALTH
FORUM 2024
For the 8th edition of the Breast Health Forum, speakers address the importance of the collaborative approach, which leads to informed decision-making: based on science and centered on the person affected.
In panel discussions, Quebec experts present the latest advances in breast cancer management, with more benefits and less impact.
Theme: Balancing benefits and impacts – making shared decisions
Key elements of a shared decision
Before establishing the treatment plan that seems most appropriate for an individual, the treatment team assesses the balance of benefits and impacts. This individual assessment is based on consideration of a range of scientific elements, as well as the specific situation and vision of each patient. The choice is not always obvious, and the assessment may evolve over time. A non-exhaustive list has been drawn up, taking into account the different elements to be considered in the balance, as well as the importance of dialogue between the patient and the care team, to move towards a shared decision.
Navigating hormone therapy: between benefits and impact management
After a brief overview of hormone-dependent breast cancer and hormone therapy, our experts discuss the choice of hormone therapy, its possible benefits and impacts, how to manage side effects to improve tolerance and compliance, and the latest advances in knowledge about hormone therapy.
Tomorrow’s treatments: better targeted, less invasive
Surgery has long been the first-line treatment for early and locally advanced breast cancer, often accompanied by radiotherapy and sometimes chemotherapy. The benefit-impact balance of these treatments is not always easy to assess. In this panel discussion, experts present advances that will make it easier to determine who really benefits from these treatments, as well as new, less invasive and just as effective therapeutic approaches that are likely to revolutionize standard intervention protocols.
Advances in metastatic breast cancer
Although breast cancer treatment is improving, metastatic breast cancer remains incurable. We’ll look at the latest hopeful advances for metastatic breast cancer, and their benefits in terms of survival and quality of life.
Integrative medicine, holistic approach: what are we talking about?
In this panel discussion, speakers discuss the relevance of adopting a holistic approach to care, centered on the person with cancer and his or her needs. In addition to treatments, we’ll see why and how healthy lifestyle habits, as well as the use of evidence-based complementary therapies, can be an integral part of a so-called holistic approach to oncology, to improve the management of adverse effects, quality of life and ultimately prognosis.