In this issue...
- New chemotherapy recommendations to guide health professionals in the treatment of women with advanced breast cancer
- Seeding grants awarded to improve local support for women diagnosed with breast cancer
- New resource to support breast cancer awareness workshops for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
- Promoting clinical best practice in the treatment of ovarian cancer
- Rural health professionals - register now for secondary breast cancer satellite broadcast
- Supporting Sisters and Aunties to Survive! Summits to wrap up in Broome
- Join us for Australia's premier Pink Ribbon Events!
New chemotherapy recommendations to guide health professionals in the treatment of women with advanced breast cancer 
National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre's (NBOCC's) new clinical practice guidelines, Recommendations for use of chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced breast cancer, are now available.
The new topic-specific recommendations supplement NBOCC’s comprehensive Clinical practice guidelines for the management of advanced breast cancer.
The inclusion of recommendations about the incorporation of trastuzumab, bevacizumab or lapatinib with chemotherapy will assist clinicians in assessing the role of these targeted therapies in the treatment of women with advanced disease. The recommendations also provide updated advice on duration of chemotherapy and the use of taxanes and antimetabolites.
The new clinical practice recommendations were developed in consultation with multidisciplinary stakeholders and are endorsed by the Medical Oncology Group of Australia, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (Faculty of Radiation Oncology) and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
NBOCC’s Recommendations for use of chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced breast cancer are available to download. For further information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9421).
Seeding grants awarded to improve local support for women diagnosed with breast cancer
NBOCC is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the Polo Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Campaign seeding grants. Three seeding grants have been awarded to improve community-based support for women diagnosed with breast cancer in rural, regional and remote Australia.
The successful applicants and their projects are:
- Swan Hill District Health (Victoria) – to establish a Healing Garden within the grounds of the local breast care nurse service to provide women with a garden meeting place.
- Murray Mallee Community Health (SA) – to support breast cancer survivors with the relief of symptoms from breast cancer treatment through exercise and dance, and to provide peer support and assistance to women through their breast cancer journey.
- The Jean Hailes Foundation for Women’s Health (Victoria) – to develop an online learning module for breast cancer nurses, Menopause and breast cancer: What nurses need to know, to assist in the support of women diagnosed with breast cancer facing menopause-related issues.
The Polo Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Campaign is an international initiative which aims to address the disparities in care for women with breast cancer and is administered in Australia by NBOCC.
For more information about the Polo Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Campaign, visit the website or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9414).
New resource to support breast cancer awareness workshops for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
NBOCC’s new Well Women Workshop Community Education Resource is now available to support health organisations and individual health professionals working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to promote breast cancer awareness through locally-run workshops.
The workshop for well women promotes breast awareness and the importance of early detection in surviving breast cancer, encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to be proactive about breast health.
The resource includes advice for the workshop organiser, presenter notes, resources to organise and run the workshop, including NBOCC’s Looking after your breasts – what every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman should know DVD, and health promotion materials.
The resource has been developed in consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and Indigenous women to ensure the information is delivered in a culturally-appropriate manner.
For further information on running a Well Women Workshop in your local community or to order the resource, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9408).
Promoting clinical best practice in the treatment of ovarian cancer
NBOCC is currently reviewing and updating selected topics in its Clinical practice guidelines for the management of women with epithelial ovarian cancer, to provide Australian health professionals with timely, evidence-based information.
A evidence review has been completed to inform the development of updated recommendations about the follow-up care of women with ovarian cancer, including patient preferences. In developing new recommendations, the multidisciplinary working group will consider ongoing research into the use of CA125 in follow-up care.
To guide the development of advice on the use of upper radical abdominal surgery for women with advanced ovarian cancer, an evidence review has been conducted and information about current clinical practice by gynaecological oncologists in Australia has been collected through a survey conducted by NBOCC and the Australian Society of Gynaecologic Oncologists.
NBOCC has undertaken several projects recently about the management of women at high or potentially high risk of ovarian cancer, including the publication of a position statement about surveillance and the online tool, Familial Risk Assessment – Breast and Ovarian Cancer (FRA-BOC). To further consolidate information for health professionals about the management of women at high risk of ovarian cancer, guideline recommendations will be updated based on systematic evidence reviews.
For further information about the review and update of ovarian cancer clinical practice guidelines, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9413).
Rural health professionals – register now for secondary breast cancer satellite broadcast
On 31 August, NBOCC will be holding a broadcast for rural health professionals in partnership with the Rural Health Education Foundation (RHEF).
Featuring a panel of experts and moderated by Dr Norman Swan, Secondary breast cancer: finding breast cancer outside the breast will consider some of the challenges in the management of secondary breast cancer, recent developments in treatment and the psychosocial and supportive care needs of women and their families.
The program will be broadcast through the RHEF rural satellite network at 8pm on 31 August and will be available for web-streaming after the event.
The broadcast is accredited as a continuing professional development activity with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
To register for the secondary breast cancer satellite broadcast, click here. For further information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9478).
Extending information for rural health professionals is a project of the Supporting Women in Rural Areas Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Program, funded by the Australian Government and delivered by NBOCC.
Supporting Sisters and Aunties to Survive! Summits to wrap up in Broome
NBOCC recently held two highly successful Supporting Sisters and Aunties to Survive! Summits in Darwin and Lismore. The Summits brought together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with breast cancer, supporters from their communities, and the health professionals who care for them, to learn more about breast cancer and to contribute their voices to the planning of information and support services.
NBOCC’s Supporting Sisters and Aunties to Survive! series will wrap up with the final Summit to be held in Broome on 14 September. To register for the Broome summit, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (ph. 02 9357 9479).
Improving knowledge and skills of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women and Health Professionals is a project of the Supporting Women in Rural Areas Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Program, funded by the Australian Government and delivered by NBOCC.
Join us for Australia’s premier Pink Ribbon Events!
In October, Australia’s Breast Cancer Month, NBOCC will once again be hosting the Melbourne Pink Ribbon Lunch and the Sydney Pink Ribbon Breakfast to raise awareness of the issues facing women diagnosed with breast cancer and to celebrate the inspirational stories of Australia’s breast cancer survivors.
The 2010 Melbourne Pink Ribbon Lunch will be held from 12.15pm to 2.00pm on Friday 15 October at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne. The event theme, Living with secondary breast cancer, will explore the challenges and issues facing women and their families as they strive to maintain their sense of wellbeing, quality of life and daily routines.
The 2010 Sydney Pink Ribbon Breakfast will be held on Pink Ribbon Day, Monday 25 October, at The Westin Sydney from 7.15am – 9.00am. The theme for this year’s event is Meeting the rural challenge, with the program highlighting the complexities of breast cancer care in rural and regional Australia.
For further information about the events or to purchase tickets, visit the Pink Ribbon Events website.