Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis director Carey Anders, MD, is the center of a new episode of Breakthrough Women in Science & Medicine.
The documentary focuses on Anders's work both clinically and scientifically for patients whose breast cancer has spread to the brain.
"We've come over the past 20 years from basically excluding patients with brain metastasis and some forms of spine metastasis from any promising novel therapy through a clinical trial to actually designing clinical trials for that patient population," Anders said in the episode. "When I think back to my fellowship, a diagnosis of brain metastasis usually conferred a life expectancy of upwards of 6, maybe 12 months. I'm happy to say in my practice now, I have patients well beyond the five-year, some even in the 10-year space. I think we're seeing significant improvements in the outcome of patients, which allows many of our industry partner to allow patients with brain metastasis in clinical trials."
The episode is available to stream online on PBS.