What Tests And Exams Diagnose Triple
The diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer requires a sampling of tissue from the breast, known as a breast biopsy.
- Medical professionals may perform the biopsy using imaging techniques, such as mammography or others, for guidance.
- If the biopsy shows cancer, they may perform other tests on the biopsy sample to determine the precise type of cancer.
- In particular, they commonly perform tests for expression of the estrogen receptor , progesterone receptor , and HER2 protein as a first step. If these tests are all negative, they classify cancer as triple-negative breast cancer.
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Stage 4 Breast Cancer: A Two
4 min read
Chelle Wenskay is the kind of person who always stands up for herself. After all shes been through, its easy to understand why. Chelle advocated for herself from the time she first discovered the symptoms of breast cancer and lymphoma. In the end, her initiative saved her life twice.
In 2004, Chelle was working in the insurance industry. Her daughter was in her 20s with small kids of her own. Chelle felt a lump in her breast, one of the most common signs of breast cancer. She noticed the lump in March, and by June, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. This stage, on average, has a five-year survival rate of 33%, but Chelle was determined to beat the odds.
For Family And Friends
Caring for a loved one with stage 4 breast cancer has special challenges as well. Fortunately, organizations such as CancerCare now offer support groups design for loved ones who are caring for someone with cancer. In addition to caring for yourself , itâs helpful to learn about metastatic breast cancer.
Common things that people learn about cancer usually refer to an early-stage disease, and myths about metastatic breast cancer can be painful for those living with advanced disease. For example, one of the things not to say to someone with metastatic breast cancer is, âWhen will you be done with treatment?â
For the most part, people with metastatic breast cancer will require some type of treatment for the rest of their lives.
What Are Symptoms of Breast Cancer?
The American Cancer Societys warning signs and symptoms of breast cancer include:
- Swelling or thickening of the breast
- Irritation or dimpling of the breast skin
- Pain in any area of the breast
- Nipple turning inward
- Changes in the size or shape of the breast
- Skin changes on the breast: redness, scaliness, flaky skin, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
- Nipple discharge that is not breast milk, including blood
- Lump in the underarm area
- Not all lumps in the breast are cancerous more than 80% are benign
- It is impossible to tell by feel only whether a lump is cancerous or not
- See a doctor if you notice any breast changes or lumps
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Hormone Receptor Status Can Influence Survival Rates
When a breast cancer tumor is sent for histological analysis, one of the characteristics of the report will be the hormone receptor status of the tumor.
Estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positive tumors tend to respond better to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy tends to be the treatment of choice for stage III and IV breast cancers.
Breast cancers which are triple negative tend to have the least favourable survival rates, regardless of breast cancer stage.
One 2011 research study looked at 269 triple-negative breast cancer patients all treated at the same institution between 2000 and 2006.
This study found that the average age at diagnosis was 55.3 years. The 5 year disease-free survival rate for the whole group was 68.2%. However, the 5 year overall survival rate for the entire group was higher at 74.5%.
Risk of recurrence was higher in the first 3 years following the initial diagnosis. However, the recurrence rate declined significantly after this initial 3 year period.
Other factors that were found to be important factors on survival rates were:-
- Lymph node status
- Lymphovascular invasion
- Age: Ladies older than 65 years had a poorer prognosis
However, ER and PR status tends to have more of an influence on survival than HER2 status. Patients with ER+/PR+/HER2- subtype of breast cancer have an estimated 5-year survival rate of 87.8%.
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Stage 4 Breast Cancer: Prognoses And Solutions
Breast cancer cases have doubled in the last 20 years. Women die more often from this disease than all other cancers. Cancers develop inside our bodies, from our own cells that have mutated for some reason. Scientists all over the world have been fighting over the cause of cancer for decades and have come to the conclusion that the diseases destructive mechanisms are triggered by not one but many factors.
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Mortality Rates Versus Number Of Breast Cancer Deaths
Sometimes its useful to have an estimate of the number of people expected to die from breast cancer in a year. This numbers helps show the burden of breast cancer in a group of people.
Numbers, however, can be hard to compare to each other. To compare mortality rates in different populations, we need to look at mortality rates rather than the number of breast cancer deaths.
What Doesnt 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.
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Many Women Live For Decades With Metastatic Breast Cancer
A stage 4 diagnosis is not an instant death sentence, says Renee Sendelbach, 40, from Austin, Texas, who was diagnosed seven years ago, when she learned that her breast cancer had moved into her lungs, bones, and lymph nodes.
Ive had metastatic breast cancer for five years and Im still kicking, says Susan Rosen, 53, from Franklin, Massachusetts.
According to a 2017 article in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 34 percent of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer have been living with the disease for five years or longer.
The goal of treatment is to keep patients on their feet as long as possible so that they can continue to do what they want to do, says Gretchen Kimmick, MD, associate professor of medicine at the Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina.
In recent years, treatment for breast cancer has vastly improved, largely because doctors are able to more accurately target therapy to the type of breast cancer a woman has. The discovery of the HER2 protein and medicines that block it has revolutionized treatment for women with cancers that overexpress this protein, Dr. Kimmick says. This cancer was pretty deadly two decades ago, and now we are starting to debate if weve cured it in some women.
Can Stage 4 Breast Cancer Be Cured
Theres currently no cure for stage 4 breast cancer, but with treatments it can be kept under control, often for years at a time. People with metastatic breast cancer need to receive treatments for the rest of their lives. If a certain treatment stops being effective, another treatment regimen may be tried.
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Stage 4 Prostate Cancer: Survival Rates Treatment And Support
Prostate cancer is in stage 4 when the cancer spreads beyond the lymph nodes and into other areas of the body. While the vast majority of prostate cancer cases are caught before this happens, when the cancer is treatable, stage 4 is far more difficult to treat. Therefore, the survival rate among men with stage 4 prostate cancer is much lower.
There are two types of stage 4 prostate cancer: 4A and 4B, according to the American Cancer Society. The type assigned to a persons diagnosis is based on whether the cancer has spread and to what degree, and the value assigned to two additional factors called the Grade Group and the prostate-specific antigen . The Grade Group is a measure of how likely the cancer is to spread quickly, and the PSA is a measure of a protein in the blood produced by cells in the prostate.
With stage 4A, the tumor has already spread into the lymph nodes and may be spreading into tissues adjacent to the prostate, but has not spread to other areas of the body. The Grade Group can be of any value, as can the PSA.
With stage 4B, the tumor may have spread into the lymph nodes, may be spreading into nearby tissues and has spread to other areas of the body like the bones, certain organs and distant lymph nodes. The Grade Group and PSA can be of any value.
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What Is Breast Cancer
Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast become abnormal and grow out of control.
What Are Symptoms of Breast Cancer?
The American Cancer Societys warning signs and symptoms of breast cancer include:
- Swelling or thickening of the breast
- Irritation or dimpling of the breast skin
- Pain in any area of the breast
- Nipple turning inward
- Changes in the size or shape of the breast
- Skin changes on the breast: redness, scaliness, flaky skin, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
- Nipple discharge that is not breast milk, including blood
- Lump in the underarm area
- Not all lumps in the breast are cancerous more than 80% are benign
- It is impossible to tell by feel only whether a lump is cancerous or not
- See a doctor if you notice any breast changes or lumps
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Coping With Advanced Breast Cancer
Being told that you have advanced or metastatic breast cancer may be very confronting or overwhelming. Some women also find the news that their cancer has spread or come back is more devastating than their original diagnosis.
There are many resources available online to help you further understand the meaning of your diagnosis and how to manage the emotional, physical and practical issues arising from metastatic breast cancer. Below are some links where these resources can be accessed:
Connecting and speaking with others who have gone through a similar experience can also be helpful. Cancer Council runs support groups all across Australia which can provide support and information for people with cancer and their families. Groups in each state can be accessed here:
Although support groups can provide a safe place for people to express their feelings amongst others who share a similar experience, some people are more comfortable talking one-on-one, such as with a counsellor, therapist or trained volunteer . Your GP can also refer you to a psychologist, social worker or other trained therapist. Every person is different and it is important to find a healthy support system that works for you.
Prostate Cancer Risk Groups
Prostate cancer can be categorised into one of 5 risk groups in the Cambridge Prognostic Group .
Doctors will look at the Grade Group , prostate specific antigen level and tumour stage to decide which CPG group the prostate cancer is.
The risk group of the cancer will help determine which types of treatments will be necessary.
If prostate cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the chances of survival are generally good.
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What Is Summary Cancer Staging
Summary cancer staging is the most basic way to stage any type of cancer, including breast cancer. Its used to estimate survival at the population level. Summary cancer staging is also called SEER staging because its used by the National Cancer Institutes Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program.
Four Stages Of The Disease
There are 4 breast cancer stages. Stage 1 breast cancer is a single tumor up to 2 cm in size, which has no regional metastases. They are located in lymph nodes, in close proximity to the affected organ in the armpit fossa. Can you die from stage 1 breast cancer? Highly unlikely! For first stage breast cancer, survival rate averages 95% and reaches 100% in some developed European countries. Those numbers also answer the which cancer is the most curable question. The most important thing here is to contact a specialist after noticing the first signs of the disease.
Stage 2 breast cancer is a small tumor, up to 2 cm or slightly larger, but often with single metastasis in the armpit fossa. The more cancer that is in the body, the more actively its harmful cells travel through the body. If stage one and stage zero are considered to be almost safe and can be easily cured, then from stage two onwards, the treatment will differ in its intensity and the measures used. At this stage, the probability of positive treatment is 60-70%. The main priority is timeliness and the use of progressive treatment methods. In the case of remote metastases being present, the situation and treatment can slightly aggravate the effectiveness of progress.
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What Is The Survival Rate For Stage 4 Breast Cancer
The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer will depend on many things, but the value seen most often is about 27%. It is important to remember that five-year survival rates are based upon diagnoses that occurred at least five years ago. I bring this up because of the amazing progress that is being made every day in cancer research. The data below-median survival time from diagnosis among age groups across time.
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Is Stage 4 Breast Cancer Painful
Stage iv metastatic breast cancer can be painful for patients similar to other cancer types. Because the prognosis of metastatic cancer is often less favorable, many patients question is stage 4 breast cancer painful? It depends on several factors such as, where the cancer has and what type of cells are being affected. For example, if the cancer has spread to the bone, patients may experience persistent bone pain. Palliative treatments can be given to patients to help relieve symptoms such as pain. These treatments can include chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or radiation therapy.
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What Is Stage Iii Breast Cancer
In stage III breast cancer, the cancer has spread further into the breast or the tumor is a larger size than earlier stages. It is divided into three subcategories.
Stage IIIA is based on one of the following:
- With or without a tumor in the breast, cancer is found in four to nine nearby lymph nodes.
- A breast tumor is larger than 50 millimeters, and the cancer has spread to between one and three nearby lymph nodes.
In stage IIIB, a tumor has spread to the chest wall behind the breast. In addition, these factors contribute to assigning this stage:
- Cancer may also have spread to the skin, causing swelling or inflammation.
- It may have broken through the skin, causing an ulcerated area or wound.
- It may have spread to as many as nine underarm lymph nodes or to nodes near the breastbone.
In stage IIIC, there may be a tumor of any size in the breast, or no tumor present at all. But either way, the cancer has spread to one of the following places:
- ten or more underarm lymph nodes
- lymph nodes near the collarbone
- some underarm lymph nodes and lymph nodes near the breastbone
What Does Her2 Stand For In Breast Cancer
HER2 is a growth-promoting protein on the outside of all breast cells. Breast cancer cells with higher than normal levels of HER2 are called HER2-positive. These cancers tend to grow and spread faster than other breast cancers, but are much more likely to respond to treatment with drugs that target the HER2 protein.
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What Tumor Factors Threaten My Life More
There are important tumor biology factors not well reflected in survival statistics by breast cancer stage. Below we list a few important factors that carry a higher risk to life beyond just the stage of cancer. You must ask your surgeon or medical oncologist to explain your receptor status and give you a copy of your biopsy pathology report.
Survival Rates For Breast Cancer
Survival rates can give you an idea of what percentage of people with the same type and stage of cancer are still alive a certain amount of time after they were diagnosed. They cant tell you how long you will live, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that your treatment will be successful.
Keep in mind that survival rates are estimates and are often based on previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had a specific cancer, but they cant predict what will happen in any particular persons case. These statistics can be confusing and may lead you to have more questions. Talk with your doctor, who is familiar with your situation, about how these numbers may apply to you.
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