Treatment and Prognosis
With any kind of cancer, there is always reason for hope and optimism. It must be acknowledged, however, that when breast cancer metastasizes it is officially classified as a Stage IV cancer, and this is generally considered to be a terminal illness by medical experts. Nevertheless, about 16%, or one out of every six, women who are diagnosed with metastasized breast cancer survive for five years or longer. So even Stage IV breast cancer is not a death sentence, despite the fact that the prognosis for those who reach this stage is not favorable.
Treatments for metastasized breast cancer are essentially the same as for cancers at a lower stage, with only surgery no longer being a helpful option. The difference with more advanced forms of breast cancer treatment is that chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapy with drugs like Tamoxifen are only intended to relieve pain and slow the process of metastasis, not send the disease into remission.
Unfortunately, the lack of metastasis in the immediate aftermath of a diagnosis of breast cancer does not mean that an all-clear can be issued. Cancerous cells carried from the breast to other parts of the body in the circulatory system can lie dormant for a long time before developing into cancer – although in many instances cancer cells transported elsewhere may never develop into anything at all.
The Importance of Prevention
It is a well-established fact that breast cancer cannot be prevented from developing in women destined to eventually be diagnosed with this illness. But the good news about metastasized breast cancer is that this variation of the disease can be prevented from developing, if the cancer is discovered early and treatment is begun forthwith. There may be a few exceptions to this rule, but extremely aggressive breast cancers that spread so fast that it is almost impossible to stop them are quite rare.
For women whose breast cancers are caught in the earliest stages, the survival rate approaches 90%. There is little doubt that many of those cancers, if left undetected for a longer period, would have metastasized, and this would have led to tragic results for many women who are now alive and healthy and busy enjoying their lives. Early detection may not be able to prevent breast cancer; but it can prevent cancers from reaching a metastatic stage, and this is one of the big keys to beating and defeating breast cancer whenever it does choose to rear its ugly head.
When Breast Cancer Metastasizes
Breast cancer is a scary disease. But when it is caught in its earliest stages, the survival rate is high and the overall prognosis is excellent in most cases. Part of what makes this disease so insidious, however, is that some tumors are more aggressive than others, and they can spread – sometimes quite quickly - beyond the breast to other vulnerable locations in the body. When this occurs, the process is referred to as metastasis; and unfortunately, once breast cancer has metastasized the prospects for recovery decline considerably.
Examining the Process of Metastasis
No one can say for sure if there is a precipitating event that causes cancers that start out in the breast to break out of their initial confinement and spread to other places in the body. The only things that can be said with certainty is that some cancerous tumors will metastasize while others will remain confined to the breast, and the only real defense against the former occurrence is to catch cancers as early as possible before they have had the chance to advance to this next potentially deadly stage.
The first sign that a cancerous tumor in the breast is getting ready to metastasize is when it breaks through the walls of nearby lymphatic vessels and moves into the lymphatic system. This is why one or two lymph nodes are almost always removed when a mastectomy is performed, because this procedure allows physicians to check for early indications of metastasis.
Strictly speaking, when breast cancer spreads to the lymphatic system this does not qualify as metastasis in and of itself. When cancerous cells begin to divide and spread they will eventually enter the lymphatic and/or blood vessels, and from there these cells will be carried far and wide into other parts of the body. If cancerous cells carried from the breast begin to invade and colonize surrounding tissues in these other locations, it is at this point that a particular incidence of breast cancer can be said to have metastasized.
The pattern of development of metastasized cancer is obviously influenced by the actions of the blood and lymphatic circulation systems, and in the case of breast cancer most of the secondary invasions of cancerous cells occur in the bones, liver, lungs, and less commonly the brain. It should be noted that metastasized breast cancer manifesting in these organs is not the equivalent of normal bone, liver, lung, or brain cancer – these are breast cancer-like tumors that have infested other areas in the body, and their characteristics are the same as those of the original cancer.
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breast_cancer_p...
Mon, 02/06/2012 - 23:27
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Breast Cancer Metastasizes
I don't understand what "Metastasizes" exactly...Can someone further explain?
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