"What Is Metastatic Breast Cancer? An Oncologist Explains" - Preeti Parikh, MD
Metastatic breast cancer is not a specific type of breast cancer, but rather the most advanced stage of breast cancer (also known as stage IV). The term metastatic means the cancer has spread beyond the initial site, in this case the breast, to other parts of the body. The most common sites for metastatic breast cancer to spread are the bones, lungs, liver, lymph nodes, and sometimes the brain. “The way metastatic breast cancer develops is, even when we’ve completely eradicated the tumor and given treatment for preventing recurrence, there still could be one cell that’s resistant to that treatment,” said Amy Tiersten, MD, professor of medicine, hematology and medical oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and oncologist in the breast cancer medical oncology program at the Dubin Breast Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital. “And that cell can travel and find its way to a different organ, and grow to the point where it’s detectable in one way or another.” While metastatic breast cancer can’t be cured and is more difficult to treat than early-stage breast cancer, there are many treatment options available. “Metastatic breast cancer used to be considered a death sentence and that’s absolutely not true anymore,” said Dr. Tiersten. “We think of it as a chronic disease.”
- Amy Tiersten, MD, Professor, Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Oncologist, Breast Cancer Medical Oncology Program, Dubin Breast Center, The Mount Sinai Hospital