Abstract
In the early days of the SARS CoV-2 Coronavirus pandemic, volunteer Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) patient advocates, affiliated with SHARE Cancer Support, launched a podcast dedicated to exploring life with MBC from the perspective of us, the people living with this disease, and the experts who partner with us to help make our lives better. The “Our MBC Life” Podcast was launched on July 27, 2020 and our inaugural episodes were focused on disparities in MBC healthcare for black women. SHARE Cancer Support started in 1976 as an organization of women helping women, and peer support remains central to SHARE’s work today. It has now grown into a national nonprofit support organization for women affected by breast cancer, MBC, ovarian and uterine cancer. We meet the needs of women wherever they are, especially in medically underserved communities. Our African American Ambassador and Latina SHARE programs are grassroots efforts designed to empower medically underserved communities of color and reduce outcomes in health disparities. In addition, the “Our MBC Life” Podcast team signed onto the #inclusion pledge, the new health equity initiative focusing on diversity and inclusion to eliminate disparities for black women. Black women are often diagnosed at later stages of their breast cancer when treatments are more limited, costly and the prognosis is poor. Black women are often diagnosed at younger ages, have more aggressive breast cancer and have a 40% higher mortality rate. Furthermore, Black women have a 39% recurrence rate of breast cancer versus an approximate 20% recurrence rate found in the total breast cancer population. The #inclusionpledge, launched by the Tigerlily Foundation at the December 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, provides a transparent and tangible framework across stakeholders to identify and track equity actions, holding all involved accountable with measurable and improved equity and outcomes for women of color. Two of the founding members of the pledge are co-hosts with the “Our MBC Life” Podcast. The “Our MBC Life” Podcast team is made up of a diverse group of ten individuals living with MBC with 3 Black Co-hosts, 1 Latinx Co-host, 1 male MBC Co-host and an LGBTQ producer. We cover racial disparity issues in healthcare in every interview with research stakeholders, oncologists and foundation leaders. This presentation will cover the work being done by the “Our MBC Life” podcast to change racial disparities in healthcare for black women and provide an overview of the impact of the #inclusionpledge initiative.
Citation Format: Lisa Laudico. How Patient Advocates can Advance Cancer Health Equity – Tales from the Frontlines [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: Thirteenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2020 Oct 2-4. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(12 Suppl):Abstract nr IA09.
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