Is mets to the skin considered Stage IV?

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LoriBach
LoriBach Member Posts: 130
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

I went to the doctor yesterday with my friend who has Triple Neg BC that has spread to the skin.  Completely red over the affected breast.  The doctor told her it was "not a good situation".  She has no spread to any organs such as Liver, Lungs, Brain, and Bones.  Is that considered stage 4?  I guess I naively believed in order to be stage IV, the Liver, Lung, Brain and Bones needed to be involved. 

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  • MusicLover
    MusicLover Member Posts: 4,225
    edited May 2014

    Maybe the moderators can help you with this question but I believe stage 4 requires distant metastasis which this does not sound like that.  (You are not naïve at all, those are the common organs to be involved if stage 4).  The doctor may be thinking that since the situation is advanced she may have involvement elsewhere but that may not be the case.  I think your friend needs to ask the doctor what he meant by that and what the next step is, treatment and testing, etc. 

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  • lintrollerderby
    lintrollerderby Member Posts: 483
    edited May 2014

    I'm sorry about your friend. Maybe someone with definitive knowledge will answer, but I've looked for this answer before and thought I'd share what I've found. According to three different sources, if it's the skin of the affected breast (ipsilateral), then it's Stage III (either IIIB or IIIC). If it's more skin than that (or if it's the contralateral breast), it might be stage IV. 

    Just for clarification: liver, lung, brain, and bones are the most common sites of metastasis of breast cancer; however, to be classified as Stage IV, it only needs to be considered distant metastasis. Some of the more uncommon areas that members here have had mets include the ovaries, kidneys, adrenal glands, colon, esophagus, eyes, and lymph nodes above the collar bone (though this last one isn't all that unusual).

    Again, I hope someone with more experience gives you a clearer answer. I'm sorry to you and your friend about the spread.

    Best wishes.

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  • lintrollerderby
    lintrollerderby Member Posts: 483
    edited May 2014

    Sorry Musiclover, we were posting at the same time.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited May 2014

    Lori, We are sorry to hear that your friend is dealing with spread of her cancer. You may want to check our this link below from our website for information about your question with respect to what constitutes stage IV. Let us know how things go for her. The Mods

    When breast cancer spreads

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  • 208sandy
    208sandy Member Posts: 2,610
    edited May 2014

    Yes, skin mets are considered Stage IV if they are distant (the other breast) from the original tumour - I know because I was diagnosed Stage IV 18 months ago with a tumour on the skin of the other breast - since then I have lung mets as well. 

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  • LoriBach
    LoriBach Member Posts: 130
    edited May 2014

    Thank you everyone for your responses.  It was a help.

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