Published Jul 16, 2025

AstraZeneca’s Breast Cancer Leader Says Community Education is Crucial; Getting The Extraordinary Wave of Innovation To Patients Who Need Hope

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Getting Data Out Where It Matters

There’s a fairly dramatic set of new medications and new data in the management of metastatic breast cancer — and the research and development teams inside global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have been a large part of that.
However, it can be difficult to get the information and data supporting the use of these drugs out to all of the healthcare providers and patients who need it.
“Education is fundamental to what we do. These conferences fall flat if we can’t get the data, the information, the progress to the community, to the hcps [healthcare providers] and to the patients who need this information to make the right choices for them,” Alison Dziarmaga, VP and U.S. Franchise Head for Breast Cancer at AstraZeneca, tells SurvivorNet.
About 80% of cancer patients are treated in community medicine — at more local treatment centers rather than large cancer centers — so education efforts are critical, as are collaborations between larger centers and physicians who work in more rural areas.

There’s a fairly dramatic set of new medications and new data in the management of metastatic breast cancer. One of the absolute leading forces behind this progress is the large research and clinical development organization inside the global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

At the biggest cancer conference of the year, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, SurvivorNet had a chance to sit down with Alison Dziarmaga, Vice President and U.S. Franchise Head for Breast Cancer, who runs this effort for the company.

Dziarmaga stressed how important it is to get new research and findings from the clinical or academic space and out to the public — to the doctors and patients who need it the most.

“Education is fundamental to what we do. These conferences fall flat if we can’t get the data, the information, the progress to the community, to the hcps [healthcare providers] and to the patients who need this information to make the right choices for them,” Dziarmaga said.

To do so, the company uses a multi-channel approach, she said, which might include using traditional media, patient advocacy groups, magazine or print sources, and more. It’s critical that doctors who work and treat patients in more remote areas of the country have access to this data, but unfortunately, getting the word out is not always easy.

About 80% of cancer patients are treated in community medicine — at more local treatment centers rather than large cancer centers. The physicians who treat these patients may have trouble getting them access to the latest treatment options and information. Education efforts, and local centers working together with large cancer centers, can help address these disparities.

“We know that we want this [data] to get to the community centers, to the rural centers, to the urban centers,” Dziarmaga said. “…If we can’t get the treatment to the patients and if the patients can’t stay on therapy, then they can’t get the outcomes that we know are possible with these therapies.”

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