Stage IV is cancer that originated in the breast but has spread to organs or tissue in other parts of the body such as the brain, liver or bone.
Stage IV Treatment
Stage IV breast cancer has spread to different areas of the body, so no surgery can effectively treat the disease in the various locations. While a mastectomy may be recommended for the breast cancer, chemotherapy and radiation are considered essential components of treatment as multiple sites can be targeted.
Chemotherapy is especially important as it is a systemic treatment, working on multiple areas of the body, rather than an isolated location as in surgery. Endocrine and targeted/biological therapies may also be used to fight the cancer.
Sources:
American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Treatment By Stage.
Mastectomies on the Increase. Medline http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_64703.html
Radiation Therapy & You. National Institutes of Health. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/radiation-therapy-and-you/page2
