Stage IV breast cancer is widely seen as incurable. While earlier detection, research into the causes, improvements in radiation and surgical techniques have improved cure rates for many forms of the disease, a diagnosis of stage IV breast cancer, the most advanced form, remains a daunting and depressing prospect. Still, progress has been made even with stage IV cancer. While advanced breast cancer patients may need to prepare for the worst, they can also find reason for optimism and hope.
Identification
Breast cancer remains the second most common cancer for women, following skin cancer. In stage IV breast cancer, cancer cells have spread beyond the breast area and lymph nodes, affecting other organs, including the brain, lung and liver. Once breast cancer has spread, in a process known as metastasis, chances for a cure drop significantly.
Statistics
According to the National Institutes of Health, the five-year survival rate for stage IV breast cancer is 20 percent. Due to the low survival rate, treatment may focus on allowing patients to live as long as possible and manage symptoms.
Improving Trends
A report in the August 2004 "Journal of Clinical Oncology" details improvements in stage IV cancer survival rates. Among a group of women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer before 1993, 27 percent survived three years; just 11 percent survived for five years. Another group, diagnosed after 1993, saw a much better prognosis: Forty-four percent survived three years, and 28 percent reached the five-year survival milestone. The report credited new treatments, especially new medications, for the improvement.
Alternative Treatments
According to the University of Florida Shands Cancer Center, high-dose chemotherapy can substantially improve some stage IV patients survival rates. According to clinical trials, 24 percent of women survived five years after high-dose treatment, compared to just eight percent who did not receive the treatment. Research continues to determine why some patients respond to the high-dosage therapy better than others.
Misconceptions
Many women have a heightened fear of breast cancer due to some frightening statistics. These statistics, however, can be misunderstood. For instance, it is true that women who live to age 95 have a 1-in-8 chance of developing breast cancer. However, as the online Merck Manual points out, at age 40, women face only a 1-in-1,200 risk of developing cancer in the next year, and a 1-in-120 chance over the next ten years.
Tags: breast cancer, percent survived, stage breast cancer, advanced breast, advanced breast cancer, breast cancer, five years
