What are the treatment options for Stage 4 breast cancer?
Treatment of Stage IV (Metastatic) Breast Cancer. Most women with stage IV breast cancer are treated mainly with systemic therapy. This may include hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or some combination of these. Local treatments such as surgery or radiation might also be used to help prevent or treat symptoms.
What are the treatment options for breast cancer?
Hormone therapy. Hormone therapy is used in cases where the cancer is hormone receptor-positive. This means that estrogen or progesterone produced in the body is facilitating the cancer to grow and spread. Tamoxifen is one drug that blocks the estrogen receptors in breast cancer cells, which stops the cells from growing and dividing.
What is Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer?
Stage 4 breast cancer is often diagnosed when the cancer recurs, although it may sometime be discovered at the initial diagnosis. While metastatic breast cancer is not curable, treatment can help control the spread of malignancy and promote a good quality of life. There are some long-term survivors of the disease. 1
What drugs are used to treat Stage IV breast cancer?
The types of drugs used for stage IV breast cancer depend on the hormone receptor status, the HER2 status of the cancer, and sometimes gene mutations that might be found. Women with hormone (estrogen or progesterone) receptor-positive cancers are sometimes treated first with hormone therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor).
What Happens When breast cancer spreads to spine?
People with bone metastases are at risk of serious bone complications such as bone fractures (breaks), spinal cord compression and bone pain. Bone complications are a concern for people with bone metastases as they can cause pain and may lead to loss of mobility, impacting quality of life.
How long can you live with Stage 4 breast cancer in bones?
Between 20 and 30 percent of women with early stage breast cancer go on to develop metastatic disease. While treatable, metastatic breast cancer (MBC) cannot be cured. The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent; median survival is three years. Annually, the disease takes 40,000 lives.
How long can you live with breast cancer that has metastasized to the spine?
Results. The median time from the diagnosis of bone-only metastasis to the last follow-up or death was 55.2 [95% confidence interval (CI), 38.6-71.9] months. The Kaplan-Meier overall survival estimate at 10 years for all patients was 34.9%.
What is the prognosis when cancer spreads to the spine?
Median survival of patients with spinal metastatic disease is 10 months. Spinal metastasis is one of the leading causes of morbidity in cancer patients. It causes pain, fracture, mechanical instability, or neurological deficits such as paralysis and/or bowel and bladder dysfunction.
What is the longest someone has lived with Stage 4 breast cancer?
Stage 4: Kim Green Has Lived With Metastatic Breast Cancer For Past 19 Years. Kim Green defies the odds for those living with incurable metastatic breast cancer. Her mother died of metastatic breast cancer at 37, but Green has been living with it for 19 years.
What are the final stages of Stage 4 breast cancer?
Bone metastasis symptoms pain in the bones or joints, which may be constant or become worse with activity. back or neck pain. increased risk of bone fractures. numbness or weakness in certain areas of the body.
What does metastatic breast cancer in the spine feel like?
The main symptoms of breast cancer that has spread to bone are: Pain – particularly in the back, arms or legs, often described as 'gnawing' which occurs when resting or sleeping, and may get worse when lying down especially at night. Fractures (breaks)
Can Stage 4 breast cancer go into remission?
Is it possible to survive stage 4 breast cancer? While there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, it is possible to control it with treatment for a number of years. The cancer can also go into remission.
What happens when cancer gets in your spine?
In severe cases, spinal cord compression can cause paralysis. In some cases, a spinal tumor weakens the bone so much that it fractures (breaks). Other complications of metastatic spinal tumors may include difficulty with balance or walking, and a decreased ability to feel cold, heat and pain.
How is breast cancer in the spine treated?
Breast metastases are usually responsive to hormonal therapy and pharmacologic interventions, but skeletal metastases often require surgical intervention. The treatments are palliative but goals include the preserving or restoring neurologic function, ensuring spinal stability, and relieving pain.
How painful is bone cancer in the spine?
Pain in the area of the tumor is the most common sign of bone cancer. At first, the pain might not be there all the time. It may get worse at night or when the bone is used, such as when walking for a tumor in a leg bone. Over time, the pain can become more constant, and it might get worse with activity.
What is the goal of stage 4 cancer?
The general aim of stage 4 cancer treatment is to improve the quality of life and extend the duration of life of patients with metastatic disease. Each case will be treated differently based on the disease characteristics and the intended goals of treatment.
How long do women live with stage 4 breast cancer?
What this means is that 27 percent of women will live for at least five years. Some will live far longer, while others will live less. The median life expectancy is three years.
What is the most advanced form of breast cancer?
Survival Rates. Monitoring. Coping. Stage 4 is the most advanced form of breast cancer. It is also referred to as metastatic breast cancer because the malignancy will have spread (metastasized) from the breast to other parts of the body, such as the bones, lungs, brain, or liver. Stage 4 breast cancer is often diagnosed when the cancer recurs, ...
How long does cancer stay stable?
While systemic treatment may keep the cancer stable for months or years , there may be times when it becomes unstable and starts to progress. When this happens, a change of treatment can often stabilize the malignancy.
What is the staging system for breast cancer?
Staging. Cancer staging is performed to direct treatment and predict the likely outcome, or prognosis. The staging system most commonly used for breast cancer—and most other cancers, for that matter—is called the TNM Classification of Malignant Tumors. In the TNM staging system:
Why are stage 4 cancers considered palliative?
In general, stage 4 cancer treatments, although they may lead to life extension in a significant number of patients, are considered palliative because only a minority of the treated patients are cured of their disease. 1 .
Where does breast cancer spread?
2 . Intraductal carcinoma most commonly spreads to the bones, liver, lungs, and brain. Lobular carcinoma tends to spread to the abdomen.
Where is radiation used for stage 4 breast cancer?
inserted in or near a tumor with a needle, tube, or pellet. For stage 4 breast cancer, radiation is generally used at a specific site of metastasis, such as in a bone or in the brain, that’s causing a problem.
What is stage 4 breast cancer?
Stage 4 breast cancer is cancer of the breast that’s spread beyond the original site . It’s typically spread to one or more of the following: distant lymph nodes. the brain. the liver. the lungs. the bones. Other terms you may have heard that describe this stage are: metastatic breast cancer.
What is targeted therapy for breast cancer?
One example of a targeted therapy is trastuzumab (Herceptin). It can be used to treat an aggressive type of cancer known as HER2-positive breast cancer.
What is hormone therapy?
Hormone therapy is used in cases where the cancer is hormone receptor-positive. This means that estrogen or progesterone produced in the body is facilitating the growth and spread of the cancer.
What is the first line of treatment for HER2?
First-line treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. According to recent guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), combination therapy should be the first-line treatment for most people with HER2-positive breast cancer.
How does chemotherapy work?
Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses one or more drugs to kill cancer cells and slow cancer growth. The drugs are taken orally or intravenously. Afterward, they travel through the bloodstream. This way, the drugs can target the original site of the cancer as well as areas in the body where the cancer cells have spread.
Is breast cancer incurable?
how fast the cancer is progressing. Stage 4 breast cancer is considered incurable, but many treatment options exist that can help extend your lifespan and improve your quality of life. Survival rates have been improving over the last few years based on many new therapies.
What is stage 4 breast cancer?
Stage 4 breast cancer occurs when cancer spreads to distant organs, tissue, or lymph nodes. Healthcare professionals may also refer to stage 4 breast cancer as advanced cancer, secondary breast cancer, or metastatic breast cancer.
What is the survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer?
According to the ACS, the 5-year relative survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 28% for females and 22% for males.
What are the symptoms of cancer?
Signs and symptoms can vary based on where the cancer has spread to. However, they may include bone pain, unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, and severe headaches, among others.
Where does breast cancer spread?
The American Cancer Society (ACS) notes that breast cancer most commonly spreads to the lungs, liver, and bones. It can also spread to other organs, including the distant lymph nodes, skin, and brain.
Can stage 4 breast cancer be treated?
Treatment cannot cure stage 4 breast cancer. The aim of treatment is to:
Can cancer be in partial remission?
Treatment may also cause partial remission. This means that treatment has destroyed a portion of the cancer but that tests can still find the cancer.
Is stage 4 breast cancer incurable?
According to one 2016 article, experts generally stage 4 breast cancer to be incurable. That said, treatments can help alleviate the symptoms, shrink the tumor, and prolong survival.
What is stage 4 breast cancer?
With stage IV, the breast cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Often the bones, brain, lungs, or liver are affected. Because multiple areas may be involved, focused treatments like surgery or radiation alone may not be enough.
How long can you live with stage IV breast cancer?
But by shrinking the cancer, it can often slow it down, help you feel better, and let you live longer. Patients with stage IV breast cancer may live for years, but it’s usually life-threatening at some point.
What is the drug used for HER2 negative breast cancer?
In women with advanced hormone receptor negative and HER2-negative breast cancer the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab ( Tecentriq) is sometimes given in combination with the chemotherapy paclitaxel ( Abraxane ). Atezolizumab blocks a protein called PD-L1. Surgery and radiation are used in some cases.
What is the name of the drug that targets a protein that helps cancer cells grow?
A new Class of drugs called PARP inhibitors has been found to help women who are HER2-negative but who have BRCA mutated breast cancer. PARP inhibitors include olaparib ( Lynparza) and talazoparib ( Talzenna) and target a protein that helps cancer cells grow.
What is the treatment for stage IV breast cancer?
Treatment for stage IV breast cancer is usually a systemic (drug) therapy.
Which stage of breast cancer is larger?
Stage II: These breast cancers are larger than stage I cancers and/or have spread to a few nearby lymph nodes.
What is stage 0 breast cancer?
Stage 0 means that the cancer is limited to the inside of the milk duct and is non-invasive. Treatment for this non-invasive breast tumor is often different from the treatment of invasive breast cancer. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a stage 0 breast tumor. Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) used to be categorized as stage 0, ...
Is lobular carcinoma in situ a stage 0 tumor?
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a stage 0 breast tumor. Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) used to be categorized as stage 0, but this has been changed because it is not cancer. Still, it does indicate a higher risk of breast cancer. See Lobular Carcinoma in Situ (LCIS) for more information.
What does stage 4 mean for breast cancer?
If your doctor has made a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, this means that the cancer has advanced to what’s known as stage 4.
What is the treatment for cancer?
immunotherapy, which uses drugs that stimulate your immune system to destroy cancer cells
How do you know if you have metastatic breast cancer?
Symptoms of metastatic breast cancer 1 If breast cancer has spread to your bones, you may notice a sudden new bone pain. Breast cancer most commonly spreads to your ribs, spine, pelvis, or arm and leg bones. 2 If it has spread to your brain, you may experience headaches, vision or speech changes, or memory problems. 3 Breast cancer that has spread to your lungs or liver usually causes no symptoms.
How does chemotherapy help with breast cancer?
chemotherapy, where drugs given orally or through an IV travel through your bloodstream to fight cancer cells.
What is the survival rate for breast cancer?
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the 5-year survival rate after diagnosis for people with stage 4 breast cancer is 28 percent. This percentage is considerably lower than earlier stages. For all stages, the overall 5-year survival rate is 90 percent.
Why is it important to treat breast cancer early?
Because survival rates are higher in the early stages of breast cancer, early diagnosis and treatment is crucial. But remember: The right treatment for stage 4 breast cancer can improve quality of life and longevity.
What bone does breast cancer spread to?
If breast cancer has spread to your bones, you may notice a sudden new bone pain. Breast cancer most commonly spreads to your ribs, spine, pelvis, or arm and leg bone s.
What is the best treatment for breast cancer pain?
There are a number of effective treatments for pain caused by secondary breast cancer in the bone, including pain relief and radiotherapy .
How does radiotherapy help with breast cancer?
Radiotherapy is very commonly used to treat secondary breast cancer in the bone. Radiotherapy uses high energy x-rays to destroy cancer cells. It aims to reduce pain and prevent further growth of cancer in the area affected. It can also be used after surgery to stabilise a weakened bone.
How does breast cancer affect bone marrow?
In some cases secondary breast cancer affects how the bone marrow works. Bone marrow is a spongy material found in the hollow part of bones. It makes blood cells (white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets) to replace those which are naturally used up in the body.
What bones do breast cancer affect?
skull. pelvis. upper bones of the arms and legs. Sometimes secondary breast cancer can affect the bone marrow. Secondary breast cancer in the bone is not the same as having cancer that starts in the bone. The cancer cells that have spread to the bone are breast cancer cells. Back to top.
How often is Xgeva given?
It’s given as an injection under the skin (subcutaneous) usually once every four weeks. Denosumab reduces bone loss, making complications of secondary breast cancer in the bone less likely to happen.
What is the term for breast cancer that has spread to bones?
Breast cancer that has spread to the bones is known as secondary or metastatic breast cancer in the bone. Some people also refer to it as bone metastases or bone mets. Secondary breast cancer occurs when breast cancer cells spread from the primary (first) cancer in the breast to other parts of the body. This may happen through the blood ...
What is the procedure to fix a fractured bone?
Orthopaedic surgery, which involves the muscles and bones, may be considered either to treat a fracture or to try to stabilise a bone that has become weakened because of the cancer.
What is the best treatment for stage IV breast cancer?
Systemic treatments, such as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and targeted therapies are commonly used to treat stage IV breast cancer. The cancer’s characteristics determine which of these treatments makes the most sense.
What are the treatment options for stage IV cancer?
After a diagnosis of stage IV disease, you and your doctor have a number of treatment options to consider, including chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Your treatment plan depends on the characteristics of the cancer, as well as any other health conditions you may have and your personal preferences.
What is stage IV breast cancer?
Stage IV describes invasive breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes to parts of the body away from the breast, such as the lungs, bones, liver, or brain. If breast cancer is stage IV at first diagnosis, it’s called “de novo” by doctors. About 6% of breast cancers are de novo.
What to do if your doctor doesn't recommend surgery?
If your doctor doesn’t recommend surgery for you, you may want to bring up this study and ask why surgery isn’t in your treatment plan.
Is stage IV breast cancer treated with chemotherapy?
Nearly all stage IV breast cancer is treated with some type of chemotherapy. If the cancer is hormone-receptor-positive, it almost always is treated with hormonal therapy. As the name implies, targeted therapies target specific characteristics of cancer cells, such as the HER2 protein that tells cancer cells to grow in a rapid or an abnormal way. So cancer that is HER2-positive is almost always treated with an anti-HER2 targeted therapy.
Is stage IV breast cancer metastatic?
We also consider a person who has a metastatic recurrence to have stage IV cancer.
Can you have chemo before or after breast cancer?
It also suggests that having chemotherapy before surgery offers better chances of survival than chemotherapy after surgery.
Location of Metastases
Staging
How Is Stage 4 Breast Cancer Treated?
- The aim of treatment is to improve the quality and length of life of people with stage 4 breast cancer. Each person will be treated differently based on the disease characteristics and the intended goals of treatment. Most treatments aim at decreasing the tumor burden (number of cancer cells, size of the tumor, or amount of cancer) and stabilizing the disease. In general, stag…
Survival Rates
- The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 29%, which means that 29 out of 100 women will live for at least five years.1Some will live far longer, while others will live less long. The median life expectancy is three years. As distressing as this may seem, the figures do not differentiate between the number of women who decide to be treated vs. those who don't. As su…
Monitoring
- While the goal of early-stage cancer treatment is to eliminate the malignancy and put the cancer into remission, the goals associated with stage 4 cancer are different. The primary aim is to keep the cancer from spreading, which requires ongoing monitoring. The tool most commonly used for this is an imaging technique known as a positron-emission to...
Coping with Stage 4 Breast Cancer
- It is natural to feel depressed, anxious, or even angry when you have been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. It can leave you feeling as if you have no control over your health or future. Moreover, you may find that certain people will withdraw from you or suggest that you have metastatic cancer because you "left it too long." It is important to shield yourself from these neg…
Summary
- Stage 4 breast cancer is also known as metastatic breast cancer, meaning the cancer has spread to other organs. While stage 4 breast cancer is not considered curable, treatments can control the spread and improve quality of life in many cases. The median survival is three years, but some people live 10 years or more after diagnosis. Treatments can include chemotherapy, radiation, s…
A Word from Verywell
- Stage 4 breast cancer can seem daunting but more and more people are living with this as a chronic illness, especially at the speed newer therapies are becoming available. If you feel unwell as a result of your cancer or your therapies, seek help from your medical team right away.