Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) is also known as Stage IV breast cancer. It is when the cancer that develops in your breast leaves that area and migrates to another part of your body. The most common places are the bones, liver, lungs and brain.
Even though the cancer cells are no longer in the breast, it still has the properties of breast cancer and is treated as breast cancer. So, my diagnosis was metastatic breast cancer to my bones, it does not mean I have bone cancer. I have breast cancer that has taken up residence elsewhere, in this case in my bones.
There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer. The cancer is swimming around in my blood and there is no way to get rid of it. Thankfully there are treatment options that aim to stop the progression of cancer and to kill it off. The best case scenario is to get the cancer to stop growing and get to the point where it can be treated with medication as if it were a chronic condition.
Depending on the pathology (characteristics of individual breast cancer) there are various treatment options for MBC. There are a lot of factors that go in to what treatment is recommended for each individual. It can include everything from surgery to various therapy (radiation, chemo, hormonal, immunotherapy). I am fortunate to be placed on a treatment regimen that includes a CDK4/6 inhibitor (if you are science-y read this journal article). This is not chemotherapy, rather it seeks out the cancer cells and stops them from reproducing. (I know, freaking amazing right? Yay science!) Chemotherapy on the other hand basically throws a lot of poison into your body that destroys any fast growing cells. (Cancer cells reproduce REALLY fast.) So, the chemo will kill not only the cancer (hopefully) but also any other fast growing cells including hair, which is why people often associated someone who has cancer with their not having much hair. The medication I'm on does not cause hair loss.
For MBC patients, the goal is to stop progression and provide the best quality of life possible and hopefully prolong life. Once breast cancer migrates to other parts of the body it's really difficult to control it. As my surgeon said "The horse is out of the barn."
A quick note here about the prognosis for MBC. If you Google it, you will see pretty grim statistics. That being said, the new therapies (only approved in 2015) are AMAZING and many MBC patients are responding positively to them. They get those statistics when someone succumbs to MBC. So, as I see it, the current statistics that you read are not reflective of these new treatment options, and while not great by any stretch, the outlook is much, much better than even when I was diagnosed the first time in 2008.
NED and Stable Mable - Every MBC patient wants one of these two to be their best friend. NED is No Evidence of Disease (or NEAD, No Evidence of Active Disease). This means if a scan was done of your body, there would be no indication that you have cancer. You still DO have cancer, it just doesn't show up on the scan imaging. "Stable Mable" is my term for a stable diagnosis. This means no change in where the cancer is or how active it is. With MBC (or "mets" as its often called) to the bones, I will never be NED. Cancer compromises the bones and even if the cells die, there is scarring on the bones that is visible on imaging. As of February 2020, Stable Mable is my new best friend, forever hopefully.