All cancers are genetic in nature, in the sense that they all arise from genetic mutations inside cells. But the origin of those mutations can vary: they can be due to environmental factors (for example exposure to carcinogenic substances such as tobacco smoke or asbestos particles), but also to spurious DNA replication errors during the cellular division of any cell type in the body. Such random, unpredictable DNA errors account for nearly two-thirds of the mutations responsible for cancer.

Helena Gouveia, oncologist at the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) tells us about two important examples of collaborative endeavours between this Unit and CF’s research labs. Scientists and clinicians join efforts to do translational research/medicine – that is, to take recent scientific advances “to the patients’ bedside” as safely, quickly and efficiently as possible.

In this short video, Marcio Debiasi, oncologist at the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Foundation, presents a study dubbed KeyPARTNER, which is being carried out in this Unit with support from industrial funders. The study’s aim is to optimize the use of chemotherapy together with immunotherapy for the treatment of so-called “triple negative” breast cancers, which are considered to be the most aggressive breast tumours.

Accessing the so-called “metaverse” through augmented reality headsets connected to the internet can help breast cancer surgeons to locate a patient’s tumour, during surgery, by virtually superposing the patient’s medical images onto her physical body lying on the operating room table, explains Pedro Gouveia, surgeon at the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Foundation. With this in view, the Unit is already building a digital surgery lab, where artificial intelligence and computer vision will combine to give rise to the breast cancer surgery of the future.

Axillary lymph node dissection is a procedure to remove all lymph nodes in the armpit so as to avoid breast cancer recurrence. But, explains David Pinto, a surgeon at the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Foundation, it causes complications – and, in 40% of the cases, it is unnecessary. Since comparative studies on alternative procedures are scant, the Unit is also participating in the European clinical trial AXSANA, which will provide results within two years.

Maria João Cardoso, coordinator of the Champalimaud Foundation’s Breast Unit Surgical team, and also in charge of the Cinderella Project, developed in this Unit - which recently received five million euros in European funding. In this video, she explains how important it is, nowadays, to consider not only the medical outcomes, but also the aesthetic aspects, when it comes to submitting women to breast surgery.

More on this project here.

Leonor Matos, Medical Oncologist at the Champalimaud Foundation’s Breast Unit, presents here the NEOPROGRAM, a project that will soon be launched in the unit, which was designed for patients who are going to receive chemotherapy or hormone therapy with curative intent. Its goal is to evaluate the benefits of different types of physical exercise for the patients’ quality of life and for tumour responses to the treatments.

In this video, Berta Sousa, an oncologist at the Champalimaud Foundation’s Breast Unit and one of the people in charge of the BOUNCE project in Portugal, talks about the results already obtained concerning the factors that influence resilience to the diagnosis and treatments in breast cancer patients.  She also evokes a study of the impact of treatments on cognitive function, specifically performed by the Breast Unit, whose results will be presented shortly.

In this video, Radiation Oncologist Javier Morales, of the Champalimaud Foundation’s (CF) Breast Unit, describes state-of-the-art breast radiotherapy treatments and equipment in use at the CF, also referring to the multidisciplinarity and personalisation of patient care. 

In this video, Radiologist Celeste Alves, who leads the Breast Unit's Radiology Service at the Champalimaud Foundation, talks about the central role of breast radiology in the Unit’s activities, be they clinical services or research projects.