Life saving early detection is the key to breast caner survival. Survival of Stage 4 breast cancer is significantly lower than if it is detected at earlier stages.

Breast cancer when it has advanced can spread to other tissue through out the body. This can include lung tissue, the liver, the brain and bone tissue. When breast cancer is first identified at Stage 4 it has inundated the body's own ability to fight off the disease in order for it to have spread this far. According to the American Cancer Society when the disease is diagnosed this far advanced the 5 year survival rate may drop as much as sixteen to twenty percent.

The median survival for women who are diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer is about eighteen months after the time it is first diagnosed. According to the American Cancer Society women who survive five years after their diagnosis of advanced breast cancer can live an additional three and a half years beyond the median survival rate.

Probably due to lack of health insurance and poverty almost five percent of caucasian women in the United States have advanced breast cancer that has spread to other tissue at the time they are first diagnosed. For black women this number is nearly doubles to nine percent that are diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.

It is important when women are diagnosed with this disease to get second and third opinions. New methods of treatment are being developed continually. Patients need to gain as much information as possible about new treatments for this disease. Stage 4 breast cancer is the most deadly class of the disease. Patients need to work closely with their health care providers for success in their treatments.

The most significant factor in breast cancer survival is having early detection. When the disease is detected while it is till limited to the breast at Stage 1 the survival chances are very high at ninety eight to one hundred percent. Survival rates drop to sixteen to twenty percent for metastasized breast cancer if it is first detected at Stage 4.

Women who are in good health beginning at the age of twenty years until forty years of age should have clinical breast exams performed once every three years by their health care providers. Regular self examinations should be done at the same time each month as an early detection practice. Breast exams should take place routinely each year after women reach forty years of age. This exam should include a mammogram or equivalent procedure.