As you may know from news commentary and other sources, this important international breast cancer conference was held last month in Texas. As always, there was a wealth of information presented during plenary and podium presentations. Often the poster and poster discussion sessions are the highlight when attendees can talk one on one with the researcher. It's a great opportunity to meet folks and perhaps gain the interest of a new, young investigator to consider studying IBC!

There were no sessions devoted to IBC at this year's meeting but there were a lot of posters. That said, the poster abstracts won't be available for viewing by the public until mid to late January. We'll plan a follow-up article next month devoted entirely to the IBC specific info from the meeting.

In the meantime check out the following links to learn more about what was presented this year. Some of the links are more "lay person" friendly in their language and others are directed to medical professionals. As you review the information you'll notice the emphasis on immunotherapy, clinical trial results, and even some data on male breast cancer.

Cure Magazine:
Breast Cancer Updates from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Dr. Susan Love's blog post:
The View From San Antonio.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer's webinar replay:
Annual Update from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Medscape's Top News From SABCS 2014.

Medpage Today's SABCS Conference Coverage.

Board of Directors member, Phyllis Johnson, writes regularly for HealthCentral.com. Below is an excerpt from her January 14, 2008 article: Telling Your Friends and Family you have Breast Cancer.

"When I was at my parents' house over Thanksgiving, my mother gave me a bag of letters and cards that she didn't want to throw out. So now I'm looking for a place to stash over 10 years of Mother's Day cards, thank you notes, and assorted memorabilia. In the stack were printouts of some emails I had sent when I was in treatment for inflammatory breast cancer in 1998 and 1999.

Reading them again reminded me how important friends and family are when you are fighting for your life.

Everyone's situation is different, of course, but here are a few things I've noticed from both my own experience and my friends'.

1. People often don't act in the ways you expect.

Someone you were sure would be a solid rock for you starts pulling away. A neighbor you hardly know offers to baby sit while you are at the doctor, and she follows through on the offer. Eventually, I realized that their reactions weren't about me; they had more to do with people's previous experiences with cancer and loss. Your very best friend may hurt so much at the thought of losing you that she gives up your friendship while you are still alive to avoid the potential pain. Your neighbor may be "paying back" aid her family received in a crisis even though you weren't the one who helped her at the time...."

Read the rest of her article here.

During last month's Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium's (TBCRC) meeting there was a lot of discussion about a trial for Her2 positive brain metastasis.  The trial is: HKI-272 for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer and Brain Metastases. The trial is not IBC specific but does not exclude those with IBC. This is an active Phase II trial with many institutions enrolling patients. Read more information about this clinical trial.

TBCRC  is composed of 17 clinical sites with multiple clinicians & researchers from each site involved. Each site is also represented by an advocate to make sure the patient voice is present in all discussions. Executive Director Ginny Mason serves as an advocate representative on TBCRC, representing Indiana University Simon Cancer Center. "It's been exciting to see TBCRC exploring projects specific to IBC and I will keep encouraging even more" said Mason."

  The National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH), founded in 1989 at Cornell University, aids in the recruitment, retention, support, and advancement of minority students in the hospitality industry. Yizhu Liao and Yingtong Zhou, two members of Purdue University's NSMH chapter recently sold bubble tea to raise money for the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation and to raise Purdue students' awareness of inflammatory breast cancer. This project was in partnership with Latea Bubble Tea Lounge in West Lafayette, IN.

 The event planning team spent an enjoyable afternoon meeting with Ginny Mason, executive director, to learn about IBC, and her personal experiences with IBC, and deciding which informational materials would be provided.

The bubble tea sale ran from December 2-5. The NSMH students had informational brochures, bookmarks and an IBC poster to catch the eye of passing Purdue students. Each time students stopped to view the poster, they were briefly introduced to IBC.  A brochure or bookmark was given with each cup of tea sold, along with encouragement them to tell their mom, friends and people around them to be aware of inflammatory breast cancer. 

Ying commented "through this activity, all of our NSMH members and some Purdue students know more about inflammatory breast cancer. Some of us have already told our mom to take better care of themselves!" 

A big "thank you" to the friends and family of Julie Bigoski and Helen Lipkin who made donations in memory of their loved ones recently!

View past donation lists, "in memory of" and "in honor of" from 2008 through December 31, 2014. Donations received after December 31 will be added to new 2015 files.

The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation is dedicated to facilitating quality inflammatory breast cancer research to improve diagnosis, treatment and survival while at the same time providing education and raising awareness in both the lay and medical communities.