Gema Moreno-Bueno, professor at the Department of Biochemistry of the Faculty of Medicine of Univerdidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Sols-Morreale (IIBM), CSIC-UAM, attends the European Parliament as a member of "The Coalition of Experts" to give visibility to the needs of women with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent cancer in women in the Western world. In Spain, 33,375 cases of BC were diagnosed in 2021, representing 36% of cancers affecting women. Fortunately, survival rates against BC are quite high, except when BC is diagnosed at an advanced stage or is of the triple-negative type. Triple-negative BC (TNBC) is the more aggressive and worse prognosis than the other two types of BC: hormone-dependent (A or B) or HER2-positive tumors. This is because biomarkers that can serve as therapeutic targets have not yet been identified; it is therefore urgent to increase funding for research into this type of cancer. In addition, women who suffer TNBC are mostly under 50 years of age and, therefore, have special needs because they still have children to care for and are professionally active.
In order to give visibility to the unmet needs of women suffering from TNBC, a group of women opinion leaders from different fields and disciplines has been created to form the so-called "Coalition of Experts". This outstanding group of women includes politicians, medical oncologists, management experts, psychologists, researchers (Dr. Gema Moreno-Bueno, among others), journalists, pharmacists, mathematicians, university professors, etc., as well as the president of the association of metastatic breast cancer patients.
In recent months, the Coalition of Experts has reflected, debated and reached a consensus on ten key aspects that should be urgently addressed by the healthcare system in order to improve both the care and the quality of life of TNBC patients. In this way, they have signed a MANIFESTO, which they previously presented to the Spanish Parliament and on November 28, 2023 will be presented to the Health Committee of the European Parliament, together with the pharmaceutical company, GILEAD, a leading expert in the field. In this way, this group of women referents in their fields of work will give visibility to our political representatives of Europe the problems of TNBC, with the confidence that the 28N will be a milestone for all patients and their families of TNBC.
Some of these 10 points are related to: promoting personalized medicine, undertaking prevention and screening programs, facilitating patient access to a multidisciplinary team of specialized health and non-health professionals, improving patient access to clinical trials, increasing resources for research on this disease, promoting oncology nursing specialization and demanding continuity in the position of these professionals from our politicians, as well as ensuring equal access of patients to hereditary cancer units.
It is an honor for the IIBM to have Dr. Gema Moreno-Bueno among its members. She is a source of inspiration for the young researchers of our Center. On this occasion, taking the message to the European Parliament about the importance of investing in cancer research and thus achieve a better future for the whole society.
The full text of the Manifesto is available at the following link:
CMTNm Expert Coalition Manifesto