Article Advise

submitted: Jul 29th 2008 | by: RayLam | Total views: 1 | Word Count: 385 | |

Stage 4 breast cancer, or advanced breast cancer, has metastasized to other tissue including bone tissue, lung tissue, or the liver. When breast cancer has overwhelmed the body?s natural defenses and spread this far by the time the cancer is first diagnosed, the 5-year survival rate drops to 16%-20% in the United States (American Cancer Society).

Up to 5% of white women in the U.S., and up to 9% of black women have advanced breast cancer spread to distant tissue at the time of first diagnosis (SEER). This difference is usually attributed to poverty and lack of health insurance.

Researchers from several medical centers, however, more recently treated 553 women, ages 18 to 60 years, with 4 to 6 cycles of a standard-dose chemotherapy combination. Then, patients in a complete or a partial remission were assigned to receive additional therapy with either continued standard-dose chemotherapy or a single course of high-dose chemotherapy. Results showed that, of the 553 women treated, 10.5% had a complete response and 46% had a partial response to the initial standard-dose chemotherapy. Then, 110 patients were assigned to receive the additional high-dose chemotherapy and 89 patients were assigned to receive the additional standard-dose chemotherapy.

The 3-year survival rates were 38% for those receiving the standard chemotherapy, and 32% for those receiving the high-dose chemotherapy. Twelve percent of those in the standard-dose group had no progression of disease, compared with only 6% in the high-dose group. Furthermore, there were more side effects in the high-dose therapy group, including one treatment-related death.

Additional clinical trials directly comparing conventional chemotherapy treatments to high-dose chemotherapy treatments are currently ongoing to help determine which patients may benefit most from high-dose chemotherapy treatment.

Early detection procedures must include monthly self-examinations done at the same time each month. From age 20-40, healthy women should have clinical breast exams performed by their health care providers every three years. After age 40, the breast exams should be annually and should include a mammogram or similar procedure.

North American white women have the highest rates of breast cancer in the world, but the 5-year survival rate for all stages (Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, and Stage 4) combined is 88% for the U.S. A recent study found European countries have lower 5-year breast cancer survival rates, with England at 77.8% and Ireland at 76.2% (Lancet Oncology).

About the Author

Learn about advanced breast cancer and get a limited FREE report on Latest Breast Cancer Drugs by visiting http://breast-cancer-remedy.info, a popular website that provides free breast cancer care advice.

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