How can you tell if you have secondary breast cancer? The most common symptom of a secondary breast cancer in the bone is an ongoing ache in an area of bone. It may be painful when you move around. You may find it difficult to sleep because of the pain. Secondary breast cancer in the bones may also cause other bone problems.
What is the most common secondary cancer to breast cancer? The most common second cancer in breast cancer survivors is another breast cancer. (This is different from the first cancer coming back.) The new cancer can develop in the opposite breast, or in the same breast for women who were treated with breast-conserving surgery (such as a lumpectomy).
Where is the first place breast cancer spreads? The lymph nodes under your arm, inside your breast, and near your collarbone are among the first places breast cancer spreads. It’s “metastatic” if it spreads beyond these small glands to other parts of your body.
What does secondary cancer feel like? Symptoms of secondary cancer
The pain may be a dull, persistent ache, which can occur during the day as well as at night. There may also be swelling and tenderness in the area. If you have this type of pain and it lasts for more than 1-2 weeks, let your doctor know as soon as possible.
How can you tell if you have secondary breast cancer? – Additional Questions
What are the red flags for secondary breast cancer?
Headache. Nausea (feeling sick) and vomiting (being sick) Weakness or feeling numb down one side of the body. Unsteadiness or loss of balance and co-ordination.
How do I know if breast cancer has spread to my bones?
Symptoms when breast cancer has spread to the bones
Pain – particularly in the back, arms or legs, often described as ‘gnawing’ which occurs when resting or sleeping, and may get worse when lying down especially at night. Fractures (breaks)
How long does secondary cancer take to develop?
When Do Second Cancers Occur? A second cancer can appear at any time during survivorship. Some studies show that a common time for cancers to develop is from five to nine years after completion of treatment.
Is secondary cancer always fatal?
Is secondary cancer curable? In a small number of situations, treatment can cure secondary cancer. However, usually secondary cancers are not curable and the aim of treatment is to control the cancer or manage any symptoms.
Where does secondary bone cancer usually start?
Bones commonly affected by secondary bone cancer include the spine, ribs, pelvis, and upper bones of the arms (humerus) and legs (femur). Any type of cancer can spread to the bone, but those most likely include breast, kidney, lung, prostate and thyroid cancers as well as melanoma and myeloma.
How long do you live with secondary bone cancer?
Lung cancer had the lowest 1-year survival rate after bone metastasis (10 percent). Breast cancer had the highest 1-year survival rate after bone metastasis (51 percent).
Survival rates of bone metastases.
| Type of cancer |
Percent of cases that metastasize after 5 years |
5-year survival rate after metastasis |
| GI |
3.2% |
3% |
Which bones does breast cancer spread to first?
More than half of people who develop stage IV breast cancer have bone metastasis. Although breast cancer can spread to any bone, the most common sites are the ribs, spine, pelvis, and long bones in the arms and legs.
What is the life expectancy of secondary breast cancer?
While treatable, metastatic breast cancer (MBC) cannot be cured. The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent; median survival is three years. Annually, the disease takes 40,000 lives.
Where do you get secondary breast cancer?
Secondary breast cancer means that a breast cancer has spread to another part of the body. This includes the liver, lungs, brain, or bones. It doesn’t include breast cancers that are affecting the lymph glands under the arm. Secondary breast cancer can no longer be cured.
Is secondary breast cancer always terminal?
Secondary breast cancer can be controlled, often for many years, but it cannot be cured. Because of new and improved treatments, women with secondary breast cancer are living for longer.
What happens when you get breast cancer for the second time?
After breast cancer was diagnosed a second time, the women’s chances of survival were 27% to 47% higher if the second breast cancer was small and had no symptoms when diagnosed, compared to second breast cancers that caused symptoms such as a lump, a skin change, or nipple discharge.
What causes death in metastatic breast cancer?
The most common cause of death was metastatic disease to various organs, accounting for 42% of all deaths. Infection was the second most common cause of death; however, only 27% of the patients with infection had significant neutropenia. In patients dying of hemorrhage, only 9% were thrombocytopenic.
What are signs death is near?
Pulse and heartbeat are irregular or hard to feel or hear. Body temperature drops. Skin on their knees, feet, and hands turns a mottled bluish-purple (often in the last 24 hours) Breathing is interrupted by gasping and slows until it stops entirely.
What’s the longest someone has lived with metastatic breast cancer?
She survived for 18 years after the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) while maintaining a good quality of life. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first reported case in the literature with the longest overall survival in a patient with MBC.
How quickly does breast cancer spread?
Each division takes about 1 to 2 months, so a detectable tumor has likely been growing in the body for 2 to 5 years. Generally speaking, the more cells divide, the bigger the tumor grows.
How does breast cancer make your body feel?
A painless, hard mass that has irregular edges is more likely to be cancer, but breast cancers can be also soft, round, tender, or even painful. Other possible symptoms of breast cancer include: Swelling of all or part of a breast (even if no lump is felt) Skin dimpling (sometimes looking like an orange peel)
How fast can breast cancer grow in 6 months?
Studies show that even though breast cancer happens more often now than it did in the past, it doesn’t grow any faster than it did decades ago. On average, breast cancers double in size every 180 days, or about every 6 months.
