How bad is stage four breast cancer? Will the cancer shorten Senator Edwards wife life ?

Answer 1

Stage 4 is very serious. But she can definitely live for another 30+ years if she would change her diet. I recommend the Halleujah Diet. www.hacres.com. When she starts that, her doctors will tell her they can't find any trace cancer and her treatments are no longer needed. In addition, if she stays on the Halleujah Diet, she will never have the cancer come back.

Answer 2

I read that Elizabeth Edwards' cancer was Stage IV.The cancer she has now is not a "new" cancer but has metastasized from the original site. Cancer is staged when diagnosed and the staging does not change throughout the treatment for that cancer. New cancers, different cancers, not spreads, receive a new grade or stage. Therefore, her original cancer was in the beginning and was always a Stage IV although that information was not made public at the time.
Once cancer has metastasized from the original site, the prognosis is not good. Breast cancers usually spread to lung, bone and brain and/or colon. She will not survive her cancer but may gain time with treatment. 16 years ago, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, after the cancer spread to the bone, there was, at most, a year left to live. I would hope that now, with advances in treatment, Mrs. Edwards will gain more time than that.

Answer 3

Stage 4 breast cancer means the cancer has spread from the breast to other parts of the body. Yes, it probably will shorten her life but if she continues chemo she may live another 15 years, lets hope this is true for her.

Answer 4

Very bad, but you can live with it for quite awhile. My mother died 20 years after her initial diagnosis, and she lasted for 7 years after it was stage 4 and spread to her lung. Other than some brief recovery periods from surgeries, she lived a normal life with it until the last 6 months.

I suspect Mrs. Edwards' cancer is worse, because it only took 3 years to spread to her ribs, so it is probably more agressive. I'm not an expert, but I'm guessing that since it spread to her ribs, it is much more likely to also spread to her lungs. I don't think the cancer in the ribs can kill her, but it will kill her if it goes to the lungs and it can't be controlled. I think my mother lived for so long with it because hers was less aggressive, plus hers was estrogen receptive and the drugs that block estrogen worked for quite awhile. One drug, Femara, was responsible for delaying her death by 5 years.

I'm more worried because they said Mrs. Edwards would be on chemotherapy (although in pill form). I thought chemotherapy wasn't used until the estrogen blocking drugs stopped working. Maybe she is taking an estrogen blocking drug and that is considered chemotherapy also, I don't know. In any case, they are always making new discoveries, so there is always hope. It is kind of like a catch-22, but the best thing she can do is stay alive as long as possible until they come up with a better drug that will keep her alive a little longer, and this cycle can be repeated as long as her cancer responds to the latest drugs available.

Answer 5

Stage 4 cancer: the tumors can be any size. The lymph nodes or glands are affected and the breast cancer has spread to other regions of the body and there is secondary cancer

Answer 6

Only 24% of women with state 4 breast cancer survive more than 5 years.

Answer 7

Stage four is a tumor of any size with spread beyond the region of the breast and chest wall, such as to liver, bone, or lungs. Are you sure hers is stage four though?

Answer 8

It is bad. It will shorten her life. No one can say how long she has, however but the aggressiveness so far ( began in 2004) would predict a shorter time.

Answer 9

Where did you hear it is stage 4? Her biopsy report isn't even back yet.

The cancer is in her bone. It depends on if it has spread (they suspect something in her lung) and if it has also spread through the bone.

Answer 10

it's in her bones, and in her lungs..she probably doesn't have long to live, once it hits the bones there is no real fix for it, it's all just a matter of time now..but they will continue to fight it, and hopefuly this will extend her life as much as possible.