Advanced Breast Cancer

Advanced breast cancer can still be treated.

If you're reading this page, you're probably worried. Either you, or someone you know, has advanced or recurring breast cancer. We're not going to say you shouldn't worry, but you should know that even advanced stages of breast cancer can be treated successfully. Take hope and take heart. A positive mental outlook and strength of will are critical parts of treating advanced breast cancer. Treatment will be hard, but you can do this.

First, some definitions.

Advanced breast cancer is cancer that's spread from the initial tumor site to the lymph nodes on that side of the body. However, that's about as simple as advanced breast cancer gets. By the time it spreads, breast cancer in the advanced stage has a wide range of possible symptoms. How it's treated varies by individual and by case.

You're going to be relying a lot on your doctor. The cancer specialist (oncologist) who's managed your treatment up until now knows the most about your case and its specifics. Unfortunately, good doctors get tons of case loads, and that means you may see less of him or her than you'd like. If your care is spread out to multiple doctors, you need to get your test results into their hands, too. Make sure to have questions you need answered at each visit.

Once breast cancer has spread, you might be overwhelmed by information. There's a lot to absorb, and a lot of information to be assessed, weighed and acted on. It's not a simple disease. Cancer has a range of symptoms that need to be controlled. Other treatments work towards remission, your primary goal.

We're not going to say you shouldn't worry, but you should know that even advanced stages of breast cancer can be treated successfully. There will be times when it feels like nothing is working.

There will be times the radiation and chemotherapy for breast cancer make you feel sicker than you've ever felt in your life.

Find someone to speak on your behalf.

You're going to want to make sure you have a friend or family member who's acting on your behalf. Treating ANY advanced form of cancer is grueling. Your treatment choices are up to you. Your friend is there to make sure they're communicated to your care provider even when you're so sick you can't move.

The first things you need to know are side effects from treatments. Every cancer treatment works by trying to make the cancer sicker than you are.

• None of them are pleasant.
• All of them have side effects; some patients react differently to different drugs.
• Keep notes of what treatments you've had and what the side effects were.
• Make sure to tell your doctor.
• Sometimes, you can daisy chain treatments end to end, so that when the side effects of one become intolerable, you can switch to a different one and let your body's tolerance to the first drug build up again.

Second, there are no certainties when breast cancer gets to this stage. If you're at stage IIIB or stage IV breast cancer, you're already at worse than 50/50 odds of making it through.

Don't give up hope, but be realistic about this as you go through the treatments. Your doctors are also going to be seeing you not just as a patient, but as a research subject. They're trying to use the techniques that have the best chance of success. However, they have to stay within the limits of what you and your body can take.

They can't predict exactly what will work. They can only tell you what the odds are, but it's your choice as to what you do.

The good news is that those options are expanding all the time. New cancer treatments are going through the FDA on a regular basis. Many are going into clinical trials all the time. Information on those treatments can be found right on this web site and you can write to us about any question online.

You have a vested interest in doing that research yourself. Your doctor knows a lot about the subject, but he's got several patients to consider. You only have yourself, and it's up to you to be informed about the decisions you'll have to make in fighting cancer.

We know it's hard, but keep fighting.

Your life doesn't end because you've got metastatic breast cancer, or advanced breast cancer. Your life goes on.

• There's a strong statistical correlation that patients who keep their outside lives going strong improve their odds the most.
• So don't become a hermit reading about treatments.
• Maintain those social bonds and activities.
• Focus your research to specific times of the week, and be prepared when you talk to your doctor.