Beyond the Pink Ribbon: 6 Breast Cancer Questions UT MD Anderson Experts Can Answer

by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 

Experts from the nation’s No.1-ranked cancer center weigh in on dense breasts, personalized treatment, prevention, aggressive disease, and life after breast cancer.

Newswise — Breast Cancer Awareness Month brings plenty of reminders about mammograms. But for many women, the questions go well beyond when to get screened.

Do dense breasts change what screening you need? Can some patients safely get less treatment? Can you lower your breast cancer risk? And what happens when treatment ends, but the side effects don’t?

Experts at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, ranked No. 1 in the nation for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report’s 2026-2027 “Best Hospitals” survey, are available to help reporters tackle these and other breast cancer questions this October.

1. I have dense breasts. Is a mammogram enough?
   Megan Kalambo, M.D., a breast imaging radiologist, can discuss what breast density means, when supplemental screening may be considered and how a woman’s individual risk factors into screening decisions.
   
2. Can some women with breast cancer safely get less treatment?
   Sharon Giordano, M.D., chair of Breast Medical Oncology, can discuss how breast cancer treatment is becoming more personalized, including when some patients may be able to safely receive less treatment and how standards of care continue to evolve.
   
3. What’s new for some of the hardest-to-treat breast cancers?
   Bora Lim, M.D., a breast medical oncologist and translational researcher, can discuss triple-negative and metastatic breast cancer, emerging treatments, biomarkers, liquid biopsy and clinical trials.
   
4. The breast is red, swollen or warm. Could it be cancer?
   Wendy Woodward, M.D., Ph.D., a radiation oncologist and inflammatory breast cancer expert, can discuss the warning signs of inflammatory breast cancer, why symptoms can be confused with other conditions and why recognizing them matters.
   
5. Can you lower your risk of breast cancer?
   
   Priya Thomas, M.D., medical director of UT MD Anderson’s Cancer Prevention Center, can discuss breast cancer risk, what women can — and can’t — control, who may benefit from a formal risk assessment and prevention options for women at higher risk.
   
6. What does life after breast cancer treatment really look like?
   
   Finishing treatment can mark an important milestone, but survivorship can bring new physical, emotional and quality-of-life considerations.
   
   Kristin Rojas, M.D., can discuss sexual health, menopause, intimacy and quality of life during and after breast cancer treatment.
   
   Mary Dev, senior counselor and social worker, can discuss the emotional side of survivorship, including fear of recurrence, changes in body image, relationships and adjusting to life after treatment.

Courtesy: Newswise