SBC Educational Scholarship Program: My Experience at the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
- Surviving Breast Cancer
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
By Ashley Bell
Read Ashley’s metastatic breast cancer story:
The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) is one of the largest breast cancer conferences in the world. 2024 marked the 47th year of the conference, which attracts academics, clinicians and researchers involved in breast cancer in medical, surgical, gynaecological and radiation oncology, as well as patient advocates and other health care professionals.
I attended SABCS with SurvivingBreastCancer.org as a 2024 SBC Educational Scholarship recipient.
The symposium reflects significant input from advocates who have left their impression on the event over the last half-century. What was started as solely a scientific conference focused on the distribution of information on the biology, cause, prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of breast cancer and premalignant breast disease has evolved to include input from the people who live with it.
Patient advocacy has evolved from a handful of grassroots organizations to highly organized networks of knowledgeable, trained, passionate champions for advancement in the understanding and treatment of breast cancer. They have evolved around special interests based on cancer type, domestic situation, ethnicity, gender, location, etc. All share a common enemy — breast cancer.
Thousands of advocates attend SABCS, both in person and virtually. They participate, learn, advocate, and educate, all to advance breast cancer care, therapies, and treatment for those who are paying the physical and emotional costs of living with this disease.
Here’s a recap of my week:
Tuesday: I attended a few networking events. One of them was put on by Lyndsay Levingston, founder of SurviveHER.
I was also introduced to a new technology in breast cancer screening called Bexa. Breast exams with Bexa are an inexpensive form of early detection that can be brought into every community. The process is highly adopted by all women, and can be delivered from safe, accessible sites in the community like churches, or from small, simple sites in rural communities. Bexa has the ability to overcome the challenges that today leave women without an option, or without an option they will choose.
Wednesday-Friday: I represented SBC at our booth in the patient pavilion of the exhibition hall. I introduced people to the organization, made some connections, and some lifelong friends.
SBC was well represented throughout SABCS. I was glad to attend the symposium alongside another patient advocate through the SBC Educational Scholarship Program.
Breast cancer is a complex group of diseases that occur in a complex world. SurvivingBreastCancer.org never shies away from asking critical questions about how issues of screening, treatment, and diagnosis impact people living with and at risk of the disease.
SurvivingBreastCancer.org’s work is evidence-based and social justice-focused. SBC sees past the hype and calls for more effective, less toxic treatments that truly make a difference in the lives of people who need them. The organization strives to reveal the ways in which inequities, barriers to healthcare, and environmental exposures produced by larger systems drive the breast cancer crisis AND disparities in diagnosis, treatment, and mortality.
Read More:
On the Podcast: Breast Cancer Conversations
Patient Advocate Tips for Attending SABCS
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