Metastatic breast cancer...?

My mom was diagnosed in 00 with stage 3 breast cancer,had her lymphnodes removed,numerous surgeries,chemo and radiation and was in complete remission.In 05 she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer in her lungs and started chemo but contracted a blood infection at the hospital during a procedure to put in a Hickman's catheter so she had to quit chemo for 3 months b/c the antibiotics they had her on were so strong the chemo wouldn't be effective.Three months after going back into chemo she was told she was once again in remission,only for the doctor to call back literally 5 minutes later and tell her that her test results came back and she AGAIN has more nodules in her lungs.More invasive chemo treatments were put it order.All but one nodule in her lung is gone,its not getting any smaller but not getting any bigger so they're keeping an eye out.Just in Feb. she was diagnosed with bone cancer in her hip. She just finished radiation last week and starts chemo very soon.Pls read details....

I know that no one here can tell me how long she has to live because I don't think God uses Yahoo, lol. She has been a very strong woman in the past 7 years working full time through all of her treatments. I know even though she puts on a strong front and acts like everything is okay, inside she is scared to death (no pun intended) and has to be wondering why it keeps coming back. My question is, how likely are the treatments to work to shrink all the legions on her hip? Being that it is metastatic and has gone from her breast, to her lungs, to her hip, it will probably just keep spreading. Does being on chemo really help cancer from spreading? It spread while she was on chemo the past 2 years, so does the chemo only treat the cancer she was diagnosed with in the first place? (ie: treated with lung cancer so it wouldn't treat the bone cancer...) We are all being very strong and support her in every way we can.

I am sorry to hear about your mom.

To clarify, I am pretty sure your mom does not have bone cancer or lung cancer, but she has breast cancer that is metastasized to the bones and the lung. This is an important distinction, because treatments can be diffferent. Because this is metastatic breast cancer, the treatment she takes could help both the cancer in the bone and in the lungs.

Unfortunately there is not a known cure for metastatic breast cancer. Some women can live a very long time with it, and so with these treatments the doctors are trying to find a way to prolong your mom's life. So the chemo and other therapies may not make the cancer completely disappear, but it is meant to keep it stable for as long as possible.

I would recommend that your mom get a second opinion from another oncologist at this point if possible, possibly even at a large cancer center in a major city. The reason for this is that there are new treatments available all the time. If her slides from her original biopsy are available they might even be able to run tests on them for new things that could tell other newer therapies that might be helpful in her case. Or she might want to get on a clinical trial at some point for a newer drug such as one called ixabepilone or take some drugs that can help with the cancer in the bone which are called bisphosphonates.

Do you know if her original tumor was positive for hormone receptors (called ER and PR)? If it was hormone therapy might be helpful as well. I would assume the doctors have checked this.

Seven years ago they did not check for all of the things they do now, so that's why I ask about getting her original slides from her first surgery if they are available and seeing if they can still run additional tests on them (I don't know if they can or not).

Best of luck to you -- it is good your mom has a caring family. That helps so much.

The organizations I list below can be very helpful to you as well.

I'll keep you in my thoughts! Report It

i just wanted to say that i am so sorry for what your mom, you and your family is going through. i will be praying for you and i hope you get the answers you need and never give up!
God bless you and your family.

I wish that I could tell you with certainty that your mother will be OK, but I can't. As you already know, there are no guarantees with this disease.

I truly hope that your mother can again beat this new challenge. Do what you have always done and be her support. The best of luck to you, your mother, and your family.