What is metastatic breast cancer?

Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, celebrated on October 13 aims to raising awareness about people living with metastatic breast cancer.

Hyderabad: Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, celebrated on October 13 aims to raise awareness about people living with metastatic breast cancer. This awareness day is a part of Breast Cancer Awareness month. It gives opportunities to increase awareness for those wanting to seek help.

There seems to be a significant growth in the awareness of breast cancer among the female population, but still lacks when it comes to awareness about metastatic breast cancer. Let us first understand what metastatic breast cancer is.

---

It is when the cancer spreads (metastasized) to other organs in the body. It can also be addressed as the stage IV breast cancer.

What is the difference between Breast Cancer and Metastatic Breast Cancer? The breast cancer may spread within the breast whereas the Metastatic cancer spreads outside the breasts and lymph nodes to different body parts.

Dense breast tissue, reproductive history resulting in greater exposure to estrogen, taking hormone therapy for symptoms of menopause, radiation therapy to the breast or chest, obesity and drinking alcohol are some of the possible reasons behind getting metastatic breast cancer.

Treatments for Metastatic Breast Cancer include surgeries and chemotherapy, as well as possible clinical trials of new drugs, which along with other palliative care can help improve quality of life and lengthen life span itself.

– Antariksh Lahiri