There are a lot of people who have heard about breast cancer metastasis before, but they don’t really know what that is. Just as the name suggests, it is related to breast cancer, but we can say that it is more than that.
What is the metastatic breast cancer?
Specialists say that a patient has this kind of breast cancer in case the cancerous cells have already spread to other body parts as well.
Even though the cancerous cells can be spread to your lungs, brain, bones, skin or liver through the lymph system or the blood stream it is still treated as breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer is also known as metastatic disease that it is said to be stage 4 cancer.
Facts regarding the condition
At the moment it is said that there are about 155,000 women suffering from breast cancer metastasis and the specialists say that this number will increase to 162,000 in the near future. About 20%-30% of the patients that have been diagnosed having breast cancer will have the cancerous cells spread to other body parts as well.
Treatment options in case of metastatic breast cancer
In case you have been diagnosed having this condition, it might be time for you to do some research regarding the options that you have. In this case it is vital for the patient to work closely with her oncology team and doctor so that they will be able to work out the best treatment method. We have to say that there is no actual cure for breast cancer metastasis, but there are some treatment options that are worth trying.
The main point of treatment in this case is to extend the life span of women and to make sure that the patient’s quality of life is as high as it can be.
Treatment methods
One of the treatments in case of metastatic breast cancer is hormone therapy. This acts through blocking the effects of estrogen or by reducing the effects of the hormone to slow down the growth of the tumor.
Biological targeted therapy
In this case the condition is treated by targeting the cancerous cells by using the features of biologic therapy.
Radiation therapy
This is one of the most common breast cancer metastasis treatments. In this case high energy beams are used to kill the cancerous cells and to hinder their growth.
Surgery
This method can be used only in certain cases and it works by removing the metastatic site or the main tumor in order to make the symptoms of metastatic breast cancer better. This treatment is rarely used in case of this kind of cancer, because not all the cancer cells can be found at the same place.
Chemotherapy
In case of this therapy breast cancer metastasis drugs are used to destroy the cancerous cells. Usually these drugs target the cells that have already spread to other body parts besides the breasts. This is also one of the more common methods of treatment of this kind of cancer.
