According to research from the National Cancer Institute, the number of women being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is increasing; at the same time, these women are living longer, especially younger women. Living longer with metastatic breast cancer, a stage of breast cancer which is driven in part by out-of-control production of proteins by cancerous cells, means increased needs for services and research.

In May 2021, The Dr. Susan Love Foundation, one of the top breast cancer research organizations in the United States, announced that every year, August 18^th would be known as World Breast Cancer Research Day. The 18^th was chosen as a representation of the 1 in 8 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. The Foundation also wanted the day to be apart from Breast Cancer Awareness month, which is October, as awareness, patient support, and research need to be highlighted throughout the year. Dr. Susan Love, founder of the Dr. Susan Love Foundation, recently passed away from recurrent leukemia on July 2, 2023. She was a pioneering breast cancer researcher, advocate, surgeon, and fierce critic of the medical field’s historically patriarchal system and paternalistic treatment of women.

Neutropenia is a condition caused by lower-than-normal amounts of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. Neutrophils fight infection in the body by killing harmful bacteria and other blood-borne pathogens. The most common cause of neutropenia during breast cancer treatment is chemotherapy, though other types of cancer medicine can also cause it. Chemotherapy can cause neutropenia because it kills rapidly dividing cells, such as cancer cells. It can also affect other quickly dividing cells in our bodies, including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. When chemotherapy destroys too many white blood cells, neutropenia occurs.

The thought of dating after a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment might make you nervous or excited. It may also reawaken or increase emotional responses you had at diagnosis or during treatment. If you have anxiety or depression, these responses can cause you to focus on or magnify negative thoughts about your prospects for dating. If you want to date but feel reluctant to start, you might be having difficulty imagining yourself meeting new people and having fun.

The negative financial impacts after a breast cancer diagnosis can be strenuous, especially for those already in a precarious financial situation prior to being diagnosed. Already having to deal with the overwhelming feeling of being diagnosed with breast cancer, patients should be able to focus on their health and not have the added stress of dealing with their financial situation. That is why we created FinancialNavigator, an online database of various financial assistance programs across Canada. 

The 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting was held from June 2 to 6. CBCN was pleased to be able to attend and participate in the many interesting and groundbreaking research that was shared at ASCO this year. Below, we present a few highlights and takeaways from this year’s conference.

June 21, 2023 is National Indigenous Peoples Day. This is a day for all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. This is also a day that should call to attention the various issues that Indigenous peoples continue to face, including racism, colonialism, and disparate health outcomes from much of the rest of Canada. Broad determinates of health like geography, accessibility and availability of services, and cultural differences contribute to the challenges faced by Indigenous peoples.

Depending on your situation, your financial needs can come in different forms, from needing money to pay for rent, to needing help with paying for treatments, to requiring help with parking costs when you go for cancer treatments. To highlight the various types of programs listed in FinancialNavigator, we have put together this blogpost series. All the highlighted programs below are available to individuals in all provinces and territories, unless otherwise noted. This is not an exhaustive list all of programs in these categories but is meant to highlight the types of financial help that can be found in our FinancialNavigator database. Visit FinancialNavigator for all available financial assistance programs.

The fifth reason that cancer still sucks is that although radiation therapy can be an effective cancer treatment, it may fail to kill some of the tumor cells in its path, or it may miss some tumor cells completely. In addition, while “palliative” radiotherapy can dramatically improve symptoms in some individuals with incurable cancers, it may have minimal impact or provide only very brief relief to others.

Breast cancer and its various treatments can change your body in many ways: weight gain or loss, tenderness, lymphedema (swelling in the limbs), partial or complete mastectomies, prosthetic breasts. This might mean that your old or favorite clothing may not fit, or fit properly any longer, and it can be difficult to find outfits that you can feel good in. It may be time to have a heart-to-heart with your closet, and explore some of the options for comfortable, adaptive clothing that can make you feel confident and excited about getting dressed again.