The journalist Joana Bonet, director of Magazine La Vanguardia, will chat with the artist about breast cancer in an event organized together with Novartis, where the Guide to physical exercise, nutrition, sexuality and personal care will be shared with the attendees and will hold a workshop with the medical oncologist Dr. Pilar Zamora and the president of the Spanish Federation of Sexology Societies, Dr. Francisca Molero.
Breast cancer affects more than 35,000 people in Spain every year. Fortunately, thanks to research and advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, survival from the disease has improved significantly in recent years, highlighting the importance of addressing quality of life, which can be significantly affected. throughout the process, both physically and emotionally. Because it is not only about living longer, but also about living these years in the best possible way. Health professionals are clear: there is a direct relationship between quality of life and therapeutic adherence, which in turn contributes to reducing the risk of tumor recurrence and improving survival rates. And this is not trivial: it is estimated that 30% of women with breast cancer will develop metastatic breast cancer, a variable little known by general society and for which there is still no cure. “Invisible breast cancer,” they call it. But that does not prevent us from living, in every sense of the word, looking forward and hoping for the best. They are women who are Here to Live.
The journalist Joana Bonet, director of Magazine La Vanguardia, and the artist Luz Casal will talk live about how the diagnosis of breast cancer changes the life of those who suffer from it. Within the framework of “Diálogos Magazine” and under the title Planet Cancer: Here to Live, a meeting organized together with Novartis.
Subsequently, a workshop will be held by Dr. Pilar Zamora, medical oncologist at the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid and representative of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) and Dr. Francisca Molero, President of the Spanish Federation of Sexology Societies. Both will talk about a topic that is little talked about but that worries patients a lot: how breast cancer affects each person’s sexual sphere. In the eminently practical workshop, not only will the reality of the effects of therapies on the sexual level and therefore the general health of the patients be discussed, but practical tools and key knowledge will also be provided to better experience the oncological process as well. on the most intimate and personal level.
Make visible to help
The diagnosis of breast cancer changes the lives of women and their families. The treatments, with their side effects, and frequent visits to the hospital disrupt daily life and generate physical deterioration that also affects them emotionally. And not only do they suffer for themselves, but they also do so for their surroundings and their loved ones. Going through this difficult disease with psychological and emotional support, and advice on nutrition or physical exercise will help mitigate the impact and cope better with the disease. That is why the Novartis Here to Live project focuses on the quality of life of people living with breast cancer during and after treatment.
The Spanish Breast Cancer Federation (FECMA), the Spanish Association of Metastatic Breast Cancer (CMM), the Spanish Group of Cancer Patients (GEPAC), the Hereditary Breast Ovarian Association (AMOH) and the Male Breast Cancer Association (INVI), as well as the Spanish academic and cooperative breast cancer research groups GEICAM and SOLTI have joined Novartis to make this Guide to physical exercise, nutrition, sexuality and personal care available to patients, which will be delivered during the event Planet Cancer: Here to Live, but you can also download it here.
But this project, in addition to supporting and accompanying, also works to make breast cancer visible, both localized and metastatic, and recognize the implications that treatment has on women’s comprehensive health and give them tools to contribute to their better quality of life.