On March 28, 2025, the Grand Hyatt São Paulo hosted the edition of Cura Talks GBECAM, an event that brought together specialists, patients, and health professionals to discuss advances in the fight against breast cancer. Part of the official programming of Brazilian Breast Cancer Conference, carried out by LACOG and GBECAM, the meeting provided a full day of exchange of experiences, scientific knowledge, and debates on fundamental topics for confronting the disease. An audience of more than 100 people attended the event, which lasted 9 hours and has already surpassed 350 views, in the recording available on the Cura YouTube Channel.

The event began with a welcome coffee, followed by the opening led by the President of the Cura Project Institute, Fernanda Schwyter and by the President of Gbecam — Brazilian Breast Cancer Studies Group, Dr. Luciana Landeiro, who welcomed the participants and reinforced the importance of the meeting for the dissemination of information about clinical research in breast cancer.

Program highlights

The first panel of the day, “Getting to Know Breast Cancer: Subtypes and Treatments”, was attended by doctors Dr. Max Mano and Dr. Otto Metzger, under the moderation of Dr. Jose Márcio Figueiredo, providing an in-depth view of the different types of breast cancer and the most current therapeutic approaches. Dr. Max Mano, in his approach, brought us a fact that has been worrying for many years:

“Two-thirds of patients in the public system are no longer diagnosed with the disease starting or with armpit ganglia, or already metastatic, and this is double the world average.”

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Next, the debate “Patient Journey and Clinical Research”, moderated by Dr. Gilberto Amorim, brought shocking accounts from the Brazilian patient, who lives in the United States, Julia Maués, accompanied by the doctors Dr. Lilian Arruda and Dr. Heloisa Resende, evidencing the importance of including patients in clinical studies and the impact of these researches on quality of life. Regarding Clinical Research, we have the report of the patient with metastatic breast cancer, Julia Maués:

“I had very difficult health moments and finally there came a time when a medicine started to work, and this only happened because years before, decades before, people participated in research to make this medicine exist. Without these patients who participated in these studies, I would not be here and without the health professionals who dedicated themselves to research and did these studies, I would not be here. So even people who don't participate in research are only here because of research.”

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Os Highlights of the ASCO & SABCS 2024 conferences, presented by the experts, Dr. Jose Bines, Dr. Heloisa Resende, Dr. Abna Vieira and Dr. Pedro Freire and moderated by Fernanda Schwyter, provided an overview of the main scientific advances discussed at the most important international conferences on breast cancer. According to Dr. Heloisa Resende, who provided a qualitative vision of SABCS 2024:

“There is a total tendency to individualize treatments, so we are on the one hand about scaling up, this is a strong aspect, and we have seen several studies in this regard. An attempt by the scientific community to relieve the system and improve the patient's quality of life. If we think that it is a context of metastatic disease, quality of life becomes the main hand pointing”.

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A special moment was reserved during Cura Talks Gbecam, where the Clinical Research Campaign, an initiative of Cura Project Institute, sponsored by Daiichi, which aims to promote knowledge about the importance of clinical research in oncology, through the structuring of an information campaign, which was curated by oncologists and researchers in a simplified and easy-to-interpret language.

Check out the video for the “Walking with Confidence: Understanding Clinical Research” Campaign:

In the afternoon, one of the expected moments was the round table “How do innovations reach our patients?”, conducted by Dr. Nelson Teich and Marlene Oliveira, moderated by Catia Duarte, highlighting challenges and opportunities in accessing new technologies and treatments. Dr. Nelson Teich brought us some data regarding per Capta expenditure on health, in Brazil and in the world:

“Brazil has little relevance in global health, in terms of expenditure (per person on health). This is important for people who carry out global research because they are not 200 million people, but Brazil only represents 1.6% of world spending, and America, which is the flagship, represents 41%”.

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The challenges faced by patients after cancer treatment were the subject of the panels “Life After Cancer”, who addressed aspects such as sexuality, physical activity and return to work. For the first issue, the event was attended by Oncologists Dr. Andreza Souto, Dr. Thaiana Aragão and patient Ana Cristina Reis, moderated by Dr. Maria Cristina Figueroa, and the second part of the module was attended by Dr. Gabriela Prior, Ângela Castro and Influencer and Patient Gi Charaba, moderated by Catia Duarte, bringing medical and personal perspectives on these essential topics for rehabilitation.

To start the first module, Dr. Maria Cristina left an important message: “Thank you for the opportunity to be here, with whom you move everything we do every day, because you are the patients. It is an invitation for us to join forces so that you are more and more understood about the subject, so that every fight that we face, we are together. They are people who need to know their rights and duties every day.”

According to the Moderator of the Return to Work Module, Catia Duarte: “Professional life is very important, and cancer cannot define how far each patient's career can go” and it is on this subject, in how companies are preparing or are prepared to receive this patient that the CEO of Araetá Strategy tells us that “We are unable to identify any company (consulted) that today has a program aimed at this topic. It's not on the agenda, or it has a series of actions in October, but it's not a care”.

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The closing included a interactive debate About relationship between doctors, patients and support network, bringing together the experts Dr. Ana Coradazzi, Dr. Roberto Hegg, the patient Eny Estevam Rodrigues and support network representative, Catia Duarte, with the mediation of Fernanda Schwyter. The panel provided an enriching exchange about the role of each individual in confronting breast cancer and in building a more humanized treatment. According to Dr. Ana Coradazzi, within oncology, doctors have the opportunity to build this relationship with the patient:

“What struck me were the times when I couldn't help because I couldn't establish the relationship I would like. And I think that makes the difference in the doctors' relationship with their patients, you don't have to be your patient's best friend, you need to be close enough to understand what they need from you, and the minimum is that you understand their context, their reality, then you look at the data you have at your disposal, you look at the resources that you have at your disposal, which are not always what the literature shows and then you create with it a care strategy that makes sense and is aligned with what he needs. That is the relationship between doctor, patient, family and team, it is a building”.

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Acknowledgements

Cura Talks GBECAM 2025 was a success! We thank all the participants, speakers, and mediators who shared knowledge and contributed to strengthening clinical research as an essential tool in the fight against breast cancer.

Special thanks to LACOG and GBECAM for their fundamental partnership in holding this event, and to Daiichi Sankyo, whose support was essential for this journey of innovation and patient care.

If you were unable to follow the event or wish to review the content presented, the full broadcast is available on the Instituto Proyecto Cura YouTube channel: Watch it here.

Photo credit: Casa da Photo