Metastatic Breast Cancer: Let’s Talk About It!

Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC), also known as Stage IV(4) Breast Cancer, occurs when the primary breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body. MBC is currently considered incurable but has become highly treatable with improvements in treatment in recent years. Treatments for MBC aim to extend life by eliminating or minimizing “mets” and improve quality of life.

According to Young Survival Coalition, approximately 5-9% of initial diagnoses of breast cancer in women are already metastatic. And, about 20-30% of women initially diagnosed with early stage cancer will later develop metastases. The most common sites of metastases for breast cancer is to the brain, liver, bones and lungs. And while men are much less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer (1 in 833 men will get the diagnosis in their lifetime), they are more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease. Stage 4 survival rate for men and women are currently about 22% at the 5 year mark, with an average survival of 3 years from the point of metastatic diagnosis.

Let that sink in for a minute. Nearly a third of people diagnosed with breast cancer will, at some point, be diagnosed as metastatic and, on average, live only another 3 years, constantly in treatment for the disease. While so much great progress has been made with researching and understanding breast cancer, we clearly have more work left to do.

The majority of talk surrounding breast cancer is around “surviving” and “survivors.” We live in a culture where “fight” and “cure” are synonymous with the pink ribbon and the disease, but that language hardly begins to cover the depths and variations of the reality of the disease, especially when it’s metastatic. Metastatic Breast Cancer, too often, becomes the elephant in the room that no one talks about. Few programs and resources exist to support MBC patients and public imagination often characterizes the disease with frail and withering patients thrust into their final days.

The reality is far different. Women and men with MBC are living, and living WELL, with the disease. They are finding ways to manage side effects of constant treatment and balance their work fighting their cancer (and it is hard work!) with the demands of their lives, livelihoods, families, and loved ones. They are integrating all kinds of amazing supplemental and holistic therapies with their conventional treatments, and finding longer periods of time with “No Evidence of Disease” (NED). And, thankfully, the tide seems to be slowly shifting when it comes to public understanding of the disease and support for it.

Going Beyond the Pink wants to be part of that progress and we hope you’ll join us!

As we work to update our website and add amazing new resources to educate and support breast cancer patients and survivors, we want to hear from you. We are adding 2 new pages to the site; Metastatic Breast Cancer and Male Breast Cancer. We would love to share your stories, the triumphs and struggles, the reality of living with MBC and Male BC.

In the meantime, we want to make sure you have some reliable resources at your fingertips. For resources on patient support, financial support, support groups and more please check out the following websites:

Metavivor is chock-full of support resources! And the folks at Advanced Breast Cancer Community offer great resources, too.

Pharmaceutical Company Novartis and Manufacturer of Piqray offer downloadable resources that are truly useful.

Komen offers some support for People with Metastatic Breast Cancer, too.

Check out a couple blogs we have written for men on what to know as well as signs and symptoms of male breast cancer. Let’s learn and shift our perspective!

Together, we can learn about how to best support the breast cancer community at any stage!