When Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky, head of Breast and Gynecologic Medical Oncology at Valley-Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Care, set out to write her book, Beyond The Pink: Navigating Life, Health, and Breast Cancer, she said her goal is the same as it always is: to share evidence-based medicine.
Recognizing that young people impacted by breast cancer have unique needs, Dr. Teplinsky was intentional about writing for this growing population. Whether you want to understand a new diagnosis, rediscover intimacy after treatment, or support your bone health, there’s a chapter with action steps waiting for you.
Dr. Teplinsky sat down with The Peak to share a look into her writing process, the themes that ground the book throughout its chapters, and why she believes that empowering patients with all the information is key to advocating for the best care possible.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Disclosure: Dr. Teplinsky is a member of The Breasties’ Board of Directors.
Beyond the Pink Ribbon
The Peak: You opened the book with the anecdote of the peach-turned-pink ribbon. Why did you feel like that was an important piece to start with?
Dr Eleonora Teplinsky: One of the things that has really struck me over the years is how much the pink ribbon has become this brand for breast cancer, right?
It’s so recognizable, like the Nike symbol or Coke or Pepsi. People see the pink ribbon, and they recognize it as breast cancer. But I think we’ve gotten so far away from that original intention, and there are so many people that I feel use the pink ribbon as marketing and as a brand. And it’s not. The pink ribbon is not a brand.
And so when you hear the story about how it originally started as a peach ribbon as a way to really bring awareness and start to have the conversations, I think it’s important to recognize it started with people. It started with a community that was really trying to make a difference.
TP: You get really into the weeds on the science behind cancer, treatment, and risk reduction in the book. Why do you think it’s so important that the average person is able to access technical information?
ET: It was really a balance, like a little push-pull. My editor would be like, ‘You’re getting too science-y.’ And I was like, ‘No, I want people to know this.’
I think it’s really important, because you have treatments and you have side effects, and the side effects are hard. It’s so important for everyone to understand why they’re on the drugs that they are on, how they work, and that [knowledge] can help with side effects.
For example, let’s talk about immunotherapy, which we use in triple negative breast cancers. One of the ways that the immunotherapy works is that it tells our immune system to attack the cancer cells, and sometimes the immune system attacks itself. So you end up with these side effects that are almost autoimmune in nature.
And so knowing that, knowing how the side effects might happen, knowing what to expect, and also knowing what type of cancer you have and what type of treatment you’re getting and why…As we think about how to help our [patients], how to have everyone be their best advocate, that starts there. That starts with knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing.
TP: How so?
ET: I’ve seen this myself, firsthand. I’ll sit with a patient for an hour, and we’ll go through the type of cancer that they have, the staging, the treatment, and a couple of months later, they’ll say, ‘Can we go over that again?’
There’s so much happening in those initial visits, and there’s so much information that we expect people to absorb at a time of trauma and grief and a lot of emotions.
I really wanted people to have that as a place to come back to. Even though this may be something you’ve passed through already, it might be helpful to go back and read it … so you have a better understanding of everything.
Balancing Information and Hope
TP: The book covers a lot of information that can feel overwhelming. How did you balance making sure readers are informed without creating more fear?
ET: It is a lot of information, and you might be at a point where you are not ready for that yet. Everyone copes in different ways.
I was very cognizant of what is in there.
There are very few statistics in the book because patients are not statistics and that data changes.
My goal is I want people to really feel uplifted and empowered as they read the book, rather than feeling like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have this really tough cancer and here are all the things that can go wrong.’
It’s that balance of not having toxic positivity, but also trying to be hopeful and saying, ‘These things are so hard, but there are things that we can do.’
TP: Throughout the book, you also often remind the reader that some statistics are quite old and might not reflect current treatments or standard of care, and those feel like really important reminders.
Dr Teplinsky: Exactly. Everyone has seen that statistic that gets thrown around all the time that 30 percent of breast cancers recur, and that statistic is so scary, right? That statistic is 40 years old at this point, and it gets used often because we see it in papers and it gets propagated. But when you look at modern-day statistics, that’s not generally what we’re seeing.
And so it’s really important, when people look at studies and papers, to say, ‘Does this statistic apply to me?’
TP: You tell readers they don’t have to read the book cover to cover. Why was that important to you?
ET: I really wanted to focus on the areas where people might find themselves without comprehensive guidance—sexual health or bone health. And I recognize that it’s a lot of information to absorb all at once.
It may be that you have some questions about sexual health, so you’re going to read that chapter before you go to your doctor’s visit to really prepare yourself for the appointment, or maybe you’ll read it after. Everyone is going to need different things at different points.
I wanted it to be something where you can read each chapter generally without reading the others, and then it’s something that you can easily come back to.
There are hard topics in there. There’s a chapter on metastatic breast cancer and death and dying and preparing for end of life, and I recognize that not everyone’s going to be in a headspace where they are ready for that or want to read that information.
It’s there for you if you need it.
TP: Each chapter also ends with action steps. How did you decide to include those?
ET: The book has a lot of information. It’s meaty at times.
These were the key points that I really wanted everyone to walk away with, something that you could even bring to your team and say, ‘Hey, can we just run through these five or six, make sure that I’m where I need to be with this?’
I want everyone to be able to advocate for themselves, because we know that oncology care is very different depending on where you’re treated, what kind of center you’re treated in, and who your team is.
We also are in a place right now where the oncology workforce is declining. People are leaving oncology earlier, and as more patients are diagnosed and are living with cancer, we have a greater need. We are very often in a space where we have to see patients every 15 to 20 minutes.
I want patients to have information that will hopefully help them come into their appointment with a better understanding, so we can optimize and maximize the time they have with their care teams.
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Closing the Gaps in Cancer Care
TP: The chapter on disparities in care is really eye-opening. Where can we put in the muscle to close some of the gaps in care and screening that you talk about?
ET: Education … You never know who it reaches.
If you put out a post about getting biomarker testing or getting molecular testing and someone reads it and goes to their doctor and says, ‘Hey, I didn’t get genetic testing,’ or, ‘I need to get biomarker testing,’ that is one step forward toward closing those gaps.
With AI, really good, evidence-based, expert information is so important. Anyone can go and get information now, but how do you verify it? How do you know what’s good? The output is very much driven by the input.
I think patient organizations have a role to play in creating those communities and working with people, but also putting out content that is driven by experts that patients know is reliable.
TP: You share your own experience having an opportunistic salpingectomy in the book. Can you talk about that experience and whether you consider yourself a gynecologic cancer previvor?
I had a hysterectomy two and a half years ago for very large fibroids. It was really important to me to have the salpingectomy because my grandmother passed away from ovarian cancer when I was 21.
That experience was my first time really as a patient, outside of having given birth. Having a hysterectomy, having major surgery, it was really eye-opening for me as a patient.
One of the things that I wasn’t prepared for was that even though I kept my ovaries… I had very abrupt menopausal symptoms for a while. I thought I was keeping my ovaries, so why would I?
And so I found myself on Reddit at 2:00 a.m. one night because I couldn’t sleep, and I’m going down this rabbit hole. The stories on Reddit were terrifying and scary, and I was like, ‘This is what my patients go through,’ right? Every day.
It really gave me a glimpse into that fear and that unknown and that even though you know better, going to the groups and the platforms at 2:00 in the morning.
I don’t know if I consider myself a GYN cancer previvor. My grandmother had ovarian cancer. She never had genetic testing, so we don’t know if she had a genetic mutation. I think that she might have, because her sister, my great aunt, died of breast cancer at 40, and we’re Jewish. And so I think it’s very likely that maybe they had the BRCA mutation.
But we don’t know that. I’ve been tested and am negative. So I haven’t actually thought about that. More to come. We’ll think about that a little bit.
You’re Not “Too Young” for Breast Cancer
TP: This book also really acknowledges the needs of younger breast cancer patients and features patients from the adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer population. How do we change that narrative of being too young for breast cancer?
ET: I think it’s changing, but very slowly. We have a lot of work to do, but I think it comes from everyone speaking up.
The more conversations we have in traditional media, on social media, in groups and communities about people sharing their stories… I hope that will inspire someone who sees a young patient who comes in with a breast mass to not turn that person away.
On the other hand, [we need] to teach people to not stop.
If you’re concerned about something, fight, and specifically say, ‘I am concerned this could be cancer.’ Keep advocating.
This is really hard to do. It’s not easy. When you are in that exam room, you’re wearing a gown, and you don’t feel like yourself. You’re already in a vulnerable position. It’s unequal between the physician and the patient.
It can be really hard to speak up when someone’s telling you, ‘This is nothing. This is fine,’ and you’re worried.
I’m hopeful that by having as many of these conversations online, in books, wherever, that people will feel empowered to say, ‘No, I’m not taking no for an answer. I am concerned this is something, and I’m gonna push for a test, a scan, an image.’
Beyond The Pink: Navigating Life, Health, and Breast Cancer by Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky is available in stores on September 29, 2026, and can be pre-ordered by most major booksellers.
