Metastatic breast cancer Archives | Page 2 of 2 | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Living Well with Metastatic Breast Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

In early 2015, Kim Delling had put her 2009 bout with breast cancer behind her. Then, at a routine checkup, her doctor ordered an additional test. “I knew something was up,” recalls Delling, a 50-year-old real estate agent in Wilmington, Mass. The cancer had come back. It had spread to her lungs, liver, and lymph nodes and … Read more

How Radiation Therapy Can Help in Metastatic Breast Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

When breast cancer spreads beyond the breast to other parts of the body, such as the bones, brain, and/or other organs, it is called metastatic breast cancer. Depending on their location, metastatic cancer growths can cause pain and neurologic symptoms such as numbness and weakness. Patients with metastatic breast cancer, which is treatable but not … Read more

What Are the Symptoms of Metastatic Breast Cancer?

by Dana-Farber Staff

When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, such as the bones, brain, liver, or lungs, it is called metastatic (also referred to as advanced or stage IV) breast cancer. While it is not curable, metastatic breast cancer can be treatable — especially with the advent of new therapies, including biologic targeted treatments … Read more

How to Advocate for Yourself If You Have Metastatic Breast Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

By Lisa J. Frank I am a five-time cancer survivor – four times breast, one time melanoma – and a patient at the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers. I am also a full-time practicing attorney who is living life to the fullest with stage IV breast cancer that has spread to my brain. … Read more

Breast Cancer Treatment: What’s the Latest?

by Dana-Farber Staff

Not only are more effective drugs for breast cancer coming to the clinic, but oncologists are making important progress in matching breast cancer treatment to specific patients and the molecular characteristics of their tumors. It’s also becoming more feasible to rachet the intensity of treatment up or down depending on the patient’s risk status, and … Read more

For Metastatic Breast Cancer Patient, DF/BWCC Milford ‘Feels Like Family’

by Dana-Farber Staff

As a breast cancer survivor living an hour away from Boston, Deb Ragosta was thrilled when Milford Regional Medical Center – located just a few minutes from her Hopedale, Mass., home – became affiliated with Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) in 2008. While she had completed active treatment in 1995, she knew the partnership … Read more

A New Approach to Understanding Breast Cancer Treatment Resistance

by Dana-Farber Staff

By Srivani Ravoori, PhD, American Association for Cancer Research This post first appeared on the Cancer Today website. In a study presented Dec. 7 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers conducted genomic analysis of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer samples that had become resistant to therapies. They found multiple alterations that were not … Read more

Exercise and Metastatic Breast Cancer: Tips from a Survivor

by Dana-Farber Staff

By Sandy Cassanelli Finding out I had breast cancer in 2013 was very hard; learning two years later that my cancer was metastatic was even more distressing. But both times, exercise helped me face my situation. I was in the best shape of my life when I was diagnosed at age 36. I was running, … Read more

Choosing a Clinical Trial for Metastatic Breast Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

When facing a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, patients often have many questions about clinical trials: Is a clinical trial right for me? When is a good time to consider a clinical trial? What types of treatments might be available? While there may be many questions about the process, the decision to participate in a … Read more

Cancer Conversations Podcast – Episode #5: What’s New in Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment and Research

by Dana-Farber Staff

Although there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, new developments in treatment and research are helping patients live longer and experience a better quality of life. In this Cancer Conversations podcast episode, Eric Winer, MD, director of Breast Oncology Program in the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber, discusses the latest … Read more

I Have Metastatic Breast Cancer: What Is My Prognosis?

by Dana-Farber Staff

A metastatic breast cancer diagnosis can be a stressful, life-changing event. While metastatic breast cancer it is not curable, it is treatable. Today, with the help of new treatments including biologic targeted therapies and novel drug combinations, many patients with metastatic disease can live well for years. Metastatic breast cancer means that the cancer has … Read more

Metastatic Breast Cancer Patient Keeps on Riding

by Dana-Farber Staff

Every day, Pat Hastings is in the barn by 5 a.m. As steward of the Hamilton Rare Breeds Foundation in Hartland, Vt., Hastings oversees herds of Poitou donkeys, Choctaw mustangs, Dales ponies, and American Cream draft horses. She has worked on farms for 35 years, and it’s here, with her horses, that she recovers from … Read more

Creating a Legacy with Metastatic Breast Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

This post originally appeared on Critical Mass as part of the 2015 National Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week. By Beth Fairchild My name is Beth Fairchild. In my former life, I was an artist, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend. Now, while I may still be all of these, I have added fearless fighter and … Read more

FDA Approves New Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for women with advanced (metastatic) breast cancer. The new therapy, palbociclib, will be used to treat postmenopausal women with metastatic estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer who have not received previous treatment. Palbociclib, which is marketed under the name Ibrance, will be used in combination … Read more

What’s New in Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment and Research

by Dana-Farber Staff

Metastatic breast cancer (MBC), also known as stage IV breast cancer or advanced stage breast cancer, ultimately affects approximately 20-25 percent of all people with breast cancer. There is no cure for MBC, but new developments in treatment and research are helping patients live longer and experience a better quality of life. “There are women … Read more

Despite Metastatic Breast Cancer, Foster Mom Continues Opening Her Home

by Dana-Farber Staff

Lise Pass has been living with metastatic breast cancer for nearly a decade, but she prefers focusing not on her disease, but rather on her children – all 48 of them. In addition to a biological son and daughter who are now adults, Pass and her husband Harry have been foster parents to 46 boys … Read more

Get the Facts on Metastatic Breast Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body it is known as metastatic breast cancer (MBC), or metastatic disease. MBC is also sometimes referred to as advanced stage breast cancer or stage IV breast cancer. Although there is no cure for MBC, it is treatable. Thanks to new treatments developed through clinical trials, … Read more

Good News for Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

by Dana-Farber Staff

By Erica L. Mayer, MD, MPH

There has been remarkable recent progress in identifying effective treatments for patients with metastatic breast cancer – that is, cancer that has spread beyond the breast and underarm lymph nodes to other parts of the body.

Being Grateful in the Face of Cancer

by Dana-Farber Staff

By Lola Baltzell

I have been a metastatic breast cancer patient at Dana-Farber for over four years now. I have an amazing team of providers, especially my oncologist Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, and nurse practitioner Anne Kelly, MSN, NP.