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prognosis for metastatic breast cancer

The stage of breast cancer when cancer cells do not remain in the original cancer site and spread out to other parts of the body is called metastatic breast cancer. This is the stage when the cancer is fully advanced. Even if you have been successfully treated for breast cancer, there is a chance that some cancer cells do not die, and later spread out through blood and lymphatic vessels to other body organs. This process is known as metastasis of breast cancer.

Metastatic breast cancer can develop in two ways: It is possible that the treatment for the primary breast cancer is over, but some cancer cells that did not die start replicating and redeveloping into new cells, and spread out to other organs, or, it is possible that the treatment is ongoing, but cells still break out and spread to other organs. It is often the case that the diagnosis of metastatic disease is so late when the treatment is ongoing, that chances of survival become very thin.

Unfortunate as it may be, breast cancer has the maximum chances of metastasizing. When this happens, bones, and organs like the lungs and brain starts showing abnormal changes, which means they’re starting to develop cancer cell growth. If you get lung cancer or liver cancer or any other cancer after getting breast cancer, it is probably just breast cancer metastasis and not a new cancer. This is good news, since breast cancer has low mortality rates and can be treated. However, if the new cancer if in the breast which did not have cancer previously, it may be a new cancer.

Another important piece of information is that three out of ten breast cancer patients later develop metastatic breast cancer. If no organ of yours has been affected by the metastatic disease, if cancer cells regress somewhat after treatment for metastatic cancer and if your cancer cells have the female estrogen and progesterone hormones, your cancer has a higher chance of being treated.

For treatment of metastatic breast cancer, chemotherapy, immune therapy, hormone treatment, radiation therapy, regular mammograms, bone scans, ultrasounds, PET scans, MRIs, CT scans, etc. are adopted. The treatment is extensive, and involves a lot of specialists. The treatments also vary according to their purpose. There are systemic treatments (like anti-estrogen and chemotherapy) that concentrate on curing every part of the body, local treatments (like surgeries on the lines of mastectomy and lumpectomy and radiation therapy) which focus on curing and killing the cancer in specific areas where the cancer has spread to, and treatments which are focused on just relieving the pain of the victim.

Because metastatic breast cancer means cancer spreading to various parts of the body, complete sure is very difficult. There will come a point when you will have to stop undergoing treatment, even when your cancer is not fully cured. You have the choice of being treated indefinitely, but you have to know, the more number of therapies you take, the more the side-effects are. Also know that many women have lived fruitful lives while taking the treatment for the metastatic disease. It is hard to take decisions when your life is at stake, but it is also necessary that you do it. There is research going on for prolonging lives of people who have this disease, and that research will surely help you.

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