Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer
An advanced breast cancer diagnosis often elicits a flood of emotions: fear, confusion, sadness, anger and worry. You may wonder, Why me? You may think its unfair that this has happened to you. All of these emotions and feelings are normal, so take the time to process your thoughts, speak with your care team to understand your diagnosis, and connect with loved ones and close friends for support.
Over time, as the shock wears off, many patients find that they get on with their lives, adjusting to what some call their new normal. You may continue to work, enjoy life and spend time with family and friends, even if sometimes you have less energy than before.
Try to eat a nutritious diet to feel stronger and better tolerate treatments. Maintaining good nutrition may also help lower your risk of infection and provide you with more energy for enjoying life.
Light exercise may give your mind and body’s boost, helping you feel energized, especially if you spend time in the fresh air. Always seek medical advice before making any changes to your diet or exercise routines.
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For instance, the American Cancer Society cites stage 4 breast cancer survival rate at 22 percent over five years, and about 14 percent for stage 4 colon cancer. Similarly, stage 4 ovarian cancer has a five-year survival rate of. 2 days ago · Japan has historically had among the lowest rates of colon cancer,.
How Does Metastatic Breast Cancer Affect Life Expectancy
The prognosis for people with metastatic breast cancer is getting better. Researchers are dedicated to developing more effective treatments and better ways to detect symptoms and diagnose the disease early. There are many new therapies in development in clinical trials.
Some newer treatments, like immunotherapies and targeted therapies, can keep the disease in check, preventing it from spreading more. Treatments like radiation therapy can minimize pain and other symptoms, helping to improve quality of life.
An estimated 1 in 3 people with metastatic breast cancer are alive five years after learning of the cancer spread. Some people are living for more than 10 years.
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Prognosis And Survival For Breast Cancer
If you have breast cancer, you may have questions about your prognosis. A prognosis is the doctors best estimate of how cancer will affect someone and how it will respond to treatment. Prognosis and survival depend on many factors. Only a doctor familiar with your medical history, the type, stage and characteristics of your cancer, the treatments chosen and the response to treatment can put all of this information together with survival statistics to arrive at a prognosis.
A prognostic factor is an aspect of the cancer or a characteristic of the person that the doctor will consider when making a prognosis. A predictive factor influences how a cancer will respond to a certain treatment. Prognostic and predictive factors are often discussed together. They both play a part in deciding on a treatment plan and a prognosis.
Doctors use different prognostic and predictive factors for newly diagnosed and recurrent breast cancers.
- Yingjiao Zhang,
Roles Writing review & editing
Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, The 903 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
-
Roles Methodology, Software
Affiliation Department of Breast Surgery, College of Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
A Note About Statistics

Survival rates are statistics. As such, they tend to tell us how the average person will do with an average triple-negative breast cancer. But people and tumors arent statistics. Some people will do better, and some people will do worse.
Very importantly, statistics are usually several years old. In order to calculate five-year survival rates, a person would have to have been diagnosed at least five years prior, and there is lag time. The treatment of triple-negative breast cancer is changing, and new drugs have been approved.
According to research from the National Cancer Institute , the number of women living with metastatic breast cancer in the United States is increasing at the same time, women with metastatic disease are living longer, especially younger women.
The research was published online on May 18, 2017 by the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Read the abstract of Estimation of the Number of Women Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer in the United States.
Metastatic breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread to parts of the body away from the breast, such as the bones or liver. Metastatic breast cancer is stage IV cancer. A woman can be diagnosed with metastatic disease when first diagnosed. Breast cancer also can come back in a part of the body away from the breast. This is called metastatic recurrence.
The study compared 5-year survival rates from 1992 to 1994 and from 2005 to 2012:
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What Doesn’t Affect Survival
Just as there are factors associated with a better or worse prognosis, there are some factors that do not appear to make a big difference. These are generally less understood by the general public:
- Aggressiveness of treatment
- Having a positive attitude
The goal of treatment for metastatic breast cancer is often very different than that of early-stage disease, and this can raise anxiety among patients and loved ones of patients. With early-stage breast cancer, the goal is usually to be aggressive in order to reduce the risk that the cancer will come back.
In contrast, with stage 4 disease, the goal is usually to use the minimum amount of treatment possible to control the disease . Studies have found that more aggressive treatment does not improve survival rates but does reduce quality of life.
While having a good attitude may improve your sense of well-being, it has not been shown to affect survival rates. In fact, holding in negative emotions in order to appear positive may be detrimental to your health in general.
What Is The Life Expectancy For Stage 4 Breast Cancer
Stage 4 breast cancer life expectancy can vary depending on several factors. The following factors can affect your life expectancy with metastatic breast cancer:
- Amount of hormone receptors and HER2 receptors on cancerous cells
- Tissues that the cancer has affected
There is still not a clear answer for how long can you live with stage 4 breast cancer because it can vary greatly from patient to patient. Other factors such as past and current treatments being used also can have an effect on the life expectancy for patients.
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35%. Regional. 12%. Distant. 3%. All SEER stages combined. 20%. In general, survival rates are higher for people who can have surgery to remove their cancer, regardless of the stage. For example, studies have shown that patients with small, resectable tumors who do not have cirrhosis or other serious health problems are likely to do.
Survival Advantages In Metastatic Breast Cancer Move The Needle Toward Curative
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Heather L. McArthur, MD, MPH, discusses key advances in breast cancer regarding CDK4/6 inhibitors, PI3K inhibitors, and subcutaneous formulations of standard treatments.
Improvements in progression-free survival and overall survival observed with CDK4/6 inhibitors in hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer have paved the way for evaluation of these agents as potential curative-intent strategies, said Heather L. McArthur, MD, MPH.
The whole body of hormone therapy with CDK4/6 inhibitors the consistency and the magnitude of benefit all contributed to the development of curative-intent studies, said McArthur, medical director of breast oncology at the Samuel Oschin Cancer Center of Cedars-Sinai, in an interview with OncLive® during an Institutional Perspectives in Cancer webinar on breast cancer. Whenever we see innovation in the metastatic setting, we typically move those strategies earlier on in the course of disease to see if we can improve cure rates with those same strategies. That was a natural extension of the clear and consistent benefits in the metastatic setting.
Its an incredibly exciting time to treat breast cancer and its incredibly exciting for our patients to have access to so many truly promising strategies, McArthur added. To see improvements in the thing we care about most in the advanced setting, which is OS , consistently reported across many of these studies is just incredibly exciting.
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A Case Series Of Metastatic Metaplastic Breast Carcinoma Treated With Anti
- 1Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Institute, Portland, OR, United States
- 2Department of Medicine, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Metaplastic breast cancer is a rare and often chemo-refractory subtype of breast cancer with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Recent studies have reported overexpression of programmed death ligand 1 in metaplastic breast cancers, and there are several reports of anti-PD-1/L1 being potentially active in this disease. In this case series, we present 5 patients with metastatic metaplastic breast cancer treated with anti-PD-1-based therapy at a single center, with 3 of 5 cases demonstrating a response to therapy, and one of the responding cases being a metaplastic lobular carcinoma with low-level hormone receptor expression. Cases were evaluated for PD-L1 expression, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes , DNA mutations, RNA sequencing, and T-cell receptor sequencing. Duration of the response in these cases was limited, in contrast to the more durable responses noted in other recently published reports.
Stage 4 Survival Rates
To get a perspective on the difference in survival rates during different stages of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society the rate of survival after diagnosis is:
- For those at stage 2 there is an expected five-year survival rate of over 90%.
- For those at stage 3 there is an expected five-year survival rate of 72%.
- For stage 4 there is an expected five-year survival rate of 22%.
Because the earlier stages of breast cancer have much longer survival rates, early detection and treatment are important.
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With other cancers, such as breast cancer or colon cancer, patients can undergo routine screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies, regardless of whether theyre experiencing. Oct 08, 2021 · I write to you with compassion (and as a pancreatic cancer survivor of over 10 years, a retired psychotherapist, and a volunteer bereavement support and cancer. De novo stage IV breastcancer is a rare disease that is considered to be incurable and accounting for ~5% of newly diagnosed breastcancer cases 1.Earlier, the majority of patients with this type.
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The five-year survival rate for stage4breastcancer is 29%, which means that 29 out of 100 women will live for at least five years. 1 Some will live far longer, while others will live less long. The median life expectancy is three years. Long-Term Survivors. Being a long term survivor is usually defined as living five or more years beyond a diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer. Living 10 or more years isn’t unheard of, and the 10-year survival rate for primary or “de novo” metastatic breast cancer is around 13%. (This rate is based on de novo cases or cases in which stage 4 was.
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Cancer patients and survivors can find resources and support from CancerCare including counseling, support groups, financial assistance, workshops and other cancer information. … My mom has been living with metastatic breastcancer for about 8 years and she’s at the end of her life now. She has started hospice care and her prognosis is that.
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Metastasis Patterns And Prognosis Of Octogenarians With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Large
- Zhenye Lv,
Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing original draft
Affiliation Division of Breast Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Cancer Center, Zhejiang Provincial Peoples Hospital, Affiliated Peoples Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Wendan Zhang,
Roles Writing review & editing
Affiliation Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, The 903 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Yingjiao Zhang,
Roles Writing review & editing
Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, The 903 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
-
Roles Methodology, Software
Affiliation Department of Breast Surgery, College of Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
What About Breast Cancer In Men
Breast cancer in men is rare less than 1 percent of all breast cancer cases but it can still occur, according to the ACS. A mans risk of getting breast cancer during his lifetime is about
The stages of breast cancer relate to how much the cancer has grown and how far its spread. Generally, the earlier breast cancer is diagnosed and treated, the higher the chances for long-term survival.
Stage 0 | This is a precancerous stage with no invasive cancer cells. |
Stage 1 | The tumor is small and localized to the breast. There may be a small amount of cancer in nearby lymph nodes. |
Stage 2 | The tumor is still localized to the breast but is larger and may have spread to several nearby lymph nodes. |
Stage 3 | This stage includes cancers that have spread to the skin, chest wall, or multiple lymph nodes in or near the breast. |
Stage 4 | This is metastatic breast cancer, meaning its spread to one or more distant parts of the body, most commonly to the bones, lungs, or liver. |
The stages of breast cancer are based on the following factors:
- whether the lymph nodes contain cancer cells
- whether the cancer has metastasized, meaning its spread to other, more distant parts of the body
Since 2018, the following factors have also been used to determine breast cancer stage:
- whether the cancer cells have hormone receptors and need estrogen or progesterone to grow
- whether the cancer cells have the HER2 protein that helps them grow
- tumor grade, meaning how aggressive the cells look under the microscope
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Living With Stage4BreastCancer 32,024 views Sep 16, 2015 279 Dislike Share Save American Association for Cancer Research 7.39K subscribers After her breastcancer recurred and metastasized,. Mar 01, 2022 · Regional: The cancer has spread outside the breast to nearby structures or lymph nodes. Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, liver or bones. 5-year relative survival rates for breast cancer These numbers are based on women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2011 and 2017..
Variation Of Survival Rates Over Time
In order to determine whether current programs for the management of metastatic breast cancer have led to improved patient survival, Debonis et al. determined the median survival times for five-year intervals of 849 patients admitted to the City of Hope National Medical Center with metastatic breast cancer from 1955 to 1980. Survival times in each of the clinical subsets remained unchanged during the period of observation, regardless of the therapeutic modalities included in the treatment regimens. The study indicates that changes in palliative therapy for metastatic breast cancer during the 25 years of observation have not influenced overall survival. On the contrary, Dickman et al. studied the survival of cancer patients in Finland during the years 19551994. The 5-year RSR for distant metastases breast cancer had increased from 10% for the period 19551964 to 22% for 19851994.
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Metaplastic Carcinoma Of The Breast
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Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast
Support and advocacy groups can help you connect with other patients and families, and they can provide valuable services. Many develop patient-centered information and are the driving force behind research for better treatments and possible cures. They can direct you to research, resources, and services. Many organizations also have experts who serve as medical advisors or provide lists of doctors/clinics. Visit the groups website or contact them to learn about the services they offer. Inclusion on this list is not an endorsement by GARD.
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Encouraging Statistics On Prognosis Of Metastatic Breast Cancer
In recent years, there have been some encouraging new statistics on the prognosis of metastatic breast cancer, these include:
- The statistics on survival rates show that women with breast cancer live longer today than ever before.
- In the past decade, the survival rate has substantially increased, due to an improvement in early diagnosis and screening, as well as improved targeted treatment.
- Survival rates are higher for women in higher economic groups
- The stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis plays an impactful role in prognosis, the highest survival rate begins for those who are five years post-treatment.
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What Is The Relative Survival Rate For Breast Cancer
A relative survival rate compares women with the same type and stage of breast cancer to women in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of breast cancer is 90%, it means that women who have that cancer are, on average, about 90% as likely as women who dont have that cancer to live for
Will I Need More Than One Treatment For Metastatic Breast Cancer

Medications are important for metastatic breast cancer to help control its spread. Resistance to therapies may develop, which can lead your care team to recommend a change in treatment.
When you start a treatment regimen, you and your care team will see how:
- The cancer responds to the therapy.
- The side effects impact you.
If the treatment isnt working or the side effects are unbearable, your care team can discuss switching the treatment method. They may recommend a different drug, dosage or schedule.
There are many treatments available. If one therapy isnt working for you for whatever reason, there is usually another one you can try.
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