Contents:
- Medical Video: When Breast Cancer is No Longer Curable
- What is metastasis?
- Life expectancy in stage 4 breast cancer
- What affects the life expectancy level?
- Statistics that need to be known
- How can cancer recur?
- The earlier, the better
Medical Video: When Breast Cancer is No Longer Curable
If you have been told that you have metastatic breast cancer, this means that the cancer has developed known as "stage 4."
Stage 4 breast cancer is defined as having spread outside the breast tissue to other areas of the body.
What is metastasis?
To understand the prognosis of stage 4 breast cancer, it will help if you previously know something about the process of metastasis. When the cancer "metastasizes," then that means it has spread outside the body part from where it came from. In the case of breast cancer, a stage 4 diagnosis may mean that the cancer has reached your bones, lungs, liver or even your brain.
Metastatic breast cancer is not the same for all sufferers. Symptoms in stage 4 will depend on the extent to which the cancer has spread in your body.
Although there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, it can be treated. Receiving the right treatment can improve your quality of life and extend your life.
Life expectancy in stage 4 breast cancer
The American Cancer Society (ACS) states that the five-year survival rate after diagnosis in stage 4 breast cancer patients is 22 percent.
This percentage is much lower than at the initial stage. In stage 3, the five-year relative survival rate is 72 percent. In stage 2, more than 90 percent.
Because higher survival rates in the early stages of breast cancer, early diagnosis and treatment are very important.
What affects the life expectancy level?
Life expectancy for breast cancer patients is based on studies of many patients with this condition. These statistics cannot predict your future health and your age. The prognosis of each person is different. The life expectancy of patients with metastatic breast cancer can be affected by:
- Your age
- Your general health
- Hormone receptors in cancer cells
- Tissue types that have been affected by cancer
- Attitude and outlook
Statistics that need to be known
There are some general facts that help to know about the prognosis of breast cancer. According to University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC):
- After lung cancer, breast cancer causes more deaths in women than other types of cancer.
- Women in the higher economic group have a higher survival rate than women in the lower group.
- Many women with breast cancer now live longer than before. Over the past 10 years, the number of deaths from breast cancer has decreased substantially.
How can cancer recur?
In recent years, particularly in women under the age of 50 years there has been a very strong decline in the rate of death from breast cancer, reported by UMMC. This decrease is due to an increase in screening and treatment for this disease.
Apart from these developments, breast cancer sufferers need to remember the possibility of a cancer recurrence. According to UMMC, if your breast cancer recurs, it's likely to occur within five years after receiving treatment for the condition.
The earlier, the better
The stage of breast cancer when you are diagnosed plays an important role in your prognosis. According to National Cancer Institute (NCI), you have the best chance of surviving for five years after being diagnosed with breast cancer and treated at an early stage.
Remember that everyone is different, and your response to treatment may not be suitable for others - even in stage 4. Discuss with your doctor to learn more about individual factors that can affect your prognosis.
