Information on Stage 4 Breast Cancer - treatment & facts from Dr. Harness, Pres. American Society of Breast Surgeons. St. Joseph Hospital Comprehensive Breast Center.

Dr. Jay Harness: Stage 4 breast cancer is by definition breast cancer that has gone elsewhere in the body. In breast cancer the kind of sites we are talking about are bone, liver, lung, brain, and occasionally into the abdominal organs. The size of the tumor can be any size. The involvement of the lymph nodes could be anywhere from none to many but stage 4 then by definition spreads elsewhere to the body. Right now and I really emphasize right now stage 4 breast cancers probably are not curable. But because of modern chemotherapeutic agents we are having longer and longer and longer survivals in stage 4 breast cancer.