Metastatic Breast Cancer
Symptoms and Treatment
What Is Metastatic Cancer?
Source: National Cancer Institute
Cancer that spreads from where it started to a distant part of the body is called metastatic cancer. For many types of cancer, it is also called stage IV (4) cancer. The process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body is called metastasis.
When observed under a microscope and tested in other ways, metastatic cancer cells have features like that of the primary cancer and not like the cells in the place where the metastatic cancer is found. This is how doctors can tell that it is cancer that has spread from another part of the body.
Metastatic cancer has the same name as the primary cancer. For example, breast cancer that spreads to the lung is called metastatic breast cancer, not lung cancer. It is treated as stage IV breast cancer, not as lung cancer.
Sometimes when people are diagnosed with metastatic cancer, doctors cannot tell where it started. This type of cancer is called cancer of unknown primary origin, or CUP.
Symptoms of Metastatic Cancer
Metastatic cancer does not always cause symptoms. When symptoms do occur, what they are like and how often you have them will depend on the size and location of the metastatic tumors. Some common signs of metastatic cancer include:
- pain and fractures, when cancer has spread to the bone
- headache, seizures, or dizziness, when cancer has spread to the brain
- shortness of breath, when cancer has spread to the lung
- jaundice or swelling in the belly, when cancer has spread to the liver
Treatment for Metastatic Cancer
There are treatments for most types of metastatic cancer. Often, the goal of treating metastatic cancer is to control it by stopping or slowing its growth. Some people can live for years with metastatic cancer that is well controlled. Other treatments may improve the quality of life by relieving symptoms. This type of care is called palliative care. It can be given at any point during treatment for cancer.
Breast Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, originally published by the National Cancer Institute, includes the following
Treatment options for metastatic breast cancer include the following:
- Hormone therapy (tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, selective estrogen receptor [ER] degraders).
- HER2-targeted therapy.
- CDK4/6 inhibitors.
- mTOR inhibitors.
- PIK3CA inhibitors.
- Chemotherapy.
- Immunotherapy.
- Surgery for patients with limited symptomatic metastases.
- Radiation therapy for patients with limited symptomatic metastases.
- Bone-modifying therapy for patients with bone metastases.
In many cases, these therapies are given in sequence and used in various combinations.
Complementary therapies for
metastasised breast cancer
Propranolol (Beta-blocker)
This study says: Propranolol was also shown to have an effect on metastasis to the brain – the other major site of interest in breast cancer. Choy et al assessed retrospective data that showed that for stage II breast cancer patients beta-blocker usage was associated with a significantly reduced risk of post-operative recurrence or distant metastasis…The recent studies outlined in this paper add to the weight of evidence to support the use of propranolol as an anti-metastatic agent in breast cancer.
Scientists tie walnuts to gene expressions related to breast cancer
New research from Marshall University links walnut consumption as a contributing factor that could suppress growth and survival of breast cancers.
Led by W. Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, a Marshall University team revealed that consumption of two ounces of walnuts a day for about two weeks significantly changed gene expression in confirmed breast cancers. This pilot, two-arm clinical trial is the latest of a series of related studies at Marshall University related to dietary walnut links to tumor growth, survival and metastasis in breast cancer. The work is described in a March 10 paper published in the journal Nutrition Research. Read full article
Indole-3 carbinol
This study says: I3C exhibits anti-cancer activities by suppressing breast tumor cell growth and metastatic spread. Metastatic breast cancer is a devastating problem, clinical application of I3C as a potent chemopreventive agent may be helpful in limiting breast cancer invasion and metastasis.
Breast Cancer
Updated 2024