Group 6B: HER2-negative & BRCA+ Breast Cancer; Latin American Populations; Genetic Testing
Friday, Dec 15
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern Time (US/New York)
Poster #PO1-16-06:
LuciA-15 – A real-world prospective study of PARP inhibitors for the treatment of Latin American patients with HER-2 negative metastatic breast cancer with mutation of BRCA1/2 genes or in the homologous recombination repair genes.
Poster #PO1-08-08:
Hereditary cancer genetic testing in Puerto Rican females.
Mentor: Debbie Denardi
Debbie has been screened for breast cancer every 6 months since she was 27 years old due to her family history of breast cancer. Her mother and 3 of her sisters died after a breast cancer diagnosis in the ‘70s. They were all very young (40-45 years old). This family history was reported to every doctor she visited, but no doctor or nurse advised her to get tested for hereditary cancer. Finally, in 2010 when she was 48 years old and after 4 months of a clean mammogram and ultrasound, she was diagnosed with TNBC and a BRCA1 mutation.
Since her diagnosis and lack of education about hereditary cancers, she has been learning as much as she can to educate individuals and families about hereditary cancer. She started her volunteer work with FORCE (Facing Hereditary Cancer Empowered) and has served as a peer support leader in S. Florida since 2012. She also serves as the Treasurer for FORCE’s Board. During the first few years of her advocacy, she attended conferences and continued her local support. In 2018, she had the opportunity to start a new phase of her career and education in advocacy.
Twitter: @debsetu
Scientist: Brigitte Phillips, Ph.D.
Brigitte has a diverse background spanning medical research, healthcare communication, education, and strategy. Her career has been primarily focused on understanding the treatment and management of chronic diseases, with a particular emphasis on neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. She now channels her expertise towards studying patient outcomes in the chronic pain setting. Brigitte’s commitment to this cause is deeply rooted in her personal journey, having been diagnosed with de novo stage 4 triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in 2021. This unique perspective fuels her dedication to contributing meaningfully to the breast cancer community.