Stage IV metastatic (or advanced) breast cancer occurs when cancer cells leave the original tumor site in the breast and spread beyond the axillary lymph nodes to other organs in the body with the most common sites being the liver, lung, bone and brain. There is no stage after IV. While metastatic breast cancer is treatable, there is no cure. New treatments and therapies are emerging each year that offer some patients progression free survival (extended life). Most treatments are relatively new so there is still more information needed about overall survival rates (>5 years).
