Metastatic Breast Cancer is known by a small variety of names. Sometimes shortened to MBC, it is also known as Stage IV (4), or Advanced Breast Cancer. But what is it, exactly? What does it mean?
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| invasive breast cancer with metastasis |
Because the cancer cells that travel to metastatic sites still have characteristics of breast cancer and respond to breast cancer treatments, the disease is still called breast cancer even when it spreads to other parts of the body. So, it’s not a brain cancer when breast cancer spreads to the brain; it is a brain metastasis from breast cancer.
There are four areas of the body where breast cancer is most likely to metastasize, although it is certainly not limited to these: Brain, Bones, Lung, and Liver. It can show up in just one location, or in several. There can be numerous tumors at the site, and there can also be smaller occurrences that are too tiny to show up in scans.
When breast cancer is detected and diagnosed, it is staged by identifying factors, whether or not it has shown signs of spreading, whether or not the lymph nodes and surrounding tissue is affected, and so forth. It starts at Stage 0, and ends at Stage IV. However, it's entirely possible to go from Stage 0 to Stage IV, as the tests performed might not pick up the presence of micrometastases. If there is cancer, there is a risk of metastasis, period.
Many women blame themselves for developing metastatic disease, thinking there should have been something they did, or didn't do that caused it to develop. However, that's not true. Research has shown that when it comes to metastasis, the concept of "early detection" doesn't apply. So all the funding that goes into early detection programs and mammogram screenings actually does nothing to lower the risk of developing metastatic disease.
Women do not die from cancer contained to the breast tissue alone. Women die when it spreads beyond the breast to vital organs. Thirty percent of all breast cancer patients who catch theirs at an earlier stage go on to develop metastasis. An additional ten percent are already metastatic at the time of diagnosis.
Stage IV, MBC, Advanced Breast Cancer, or in the UK, Secondary Breast Cancer, whatever the name it goes by, it's the form of Breast Cancer that kills 40,000 people in the USA annually, and that is a number that has not changed one iota despite the increased awareness of breast cancer. Early Detection isn't stopping metastasis. Mammograms aren't saving lives.
Pinktober is no longer even confined to October. Pink merchandise and Fun Awareness Programs happen throughout the year. It's taken over. Pinktober has become metastatic, without any metastatic awareness.
I suppose the question is if early detection can help extend lives, since folks with a primary tumor are often given chemo to try to beat back any micrometastases and are warned that the cancer might have metastacized, so they need regular screenings to detect a tumor that spread, just like the folks who know that cancer runs in the family*.
ReplyDeleteIt would mean changing the language, though. Noting that, say, '2/3 of the time you'll be fine after the treatment, 1/3 of the time this will turn into a chronic problem that requires treatment to extend your life and give you more good days, and those odds are independent of your actions'.
* My dad had the tiniest case of colon cancer. Even if his tumor was the sort that stayed in one place, it means that us kids have to keep an eye on our colons. Also, now, Dad's doctor has to make sure it was the sort that stayed in one place; I don't know how spread-happy colon cancer is compared to breast cancer.
I do agree that early detection can help a lot of women, but you're right. The language needs to be changed. Right now, many people believe that breast cancer is one of the "easy" ones, that it's curable if found early enough. We don't know why, out of a group of 10 women getting the same aggressive treatments, 3 of them will develop metastatic disease. There simply isn't enough research in understanding why, how, where, when, what. MBC is underfunded severely. It needs more. At least 30% more for the 30%.
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