Mets to spine

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hairyclairy
hairyclairy Member Posts: 4
edited May 2021 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

hi all

Any advice just had scan back & my lobular has gone to my spine. Ive had cancer twice now, first breast then lymph nodes now spine, any advice or what to expect would be much appreciated, im 47 first diagnosed when 39.

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  • kitkit
    kitkit Member Posts: 80
    edited April 2021

    Ask for SBRT radiation to zap that spine met before it starts hurting you. Seems to be latest standard of care

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  • hairyclairy
    hairyclairy Member Posts: 4
    edited April 2021

    thanks its hurting already my breast nurse mentioned radio

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  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 4,800
    edited April 2021

    HI, sorry you find yourself here. There is an active bone mets thread where you can learn more about our experiences with bone mets https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topics/...

    You can have SBRT or standard external beam radiation to control pain or growth of the mets. You'd also need systemic treatment.

    Much of the treatment & prognosis depends on your cancer's hormone markers and how well it responds to treatment.

    When did you get your news about the stage IV dx? Just recently? It's a gut punch for sure.

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  • hairyclairy
    hairyclairy Member Posts: 4
    edited May 2021

    ended up in a& e with my back completely gone collasped in a field with my dogs. Apparently its widespread up & down my spine with a collapsed vertebrae. Can this be cured? Im hormone positive, lobular, but they said too far spread to treat all with radio. What about protein beam? I currently cant walk much & dont know if its too do with this or is my injury completely separate

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2021

    It can't be cured, no, but it can be managed. The drugs should get the mets to slow down and scab over so not every met is found to result in a traumatic fracture. When are you due to start treatment? They can radiate the worst /most troublesome mets

    Judging from your language it sounds like you may be in the UK, is that right? I had a sacral met fracture and was just only able to get home in time before it happened. Given its size and how I had been complaining about that part of my lower back for almost 5 months, it really should have been radiated right away, but my diagnostics were a flaming mess with no single line of follow through. I still fear to this day that my spine will collapse again, but my MO tells me that we would catch it with pain beforehand. That being said, my spine now, although I have three vertebrae more or less just mets, have shown healing from the drugs I am on, I have no pain, and my spine certainly doesn't feel as unstable as it did before.

    The fractured vertebrae will be from a met, but the rest of those on your spine may not cause problems. Are they doing any scans on you to see what is up now and if there needs to be any spinal intervention? Also, definitely let your BCN know what happened and be proactive about that and don't assume they will see the information.


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  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 4,800
    edited May 2021

    hairyclairy, how scary for you to have that happen when out with your dogs

    as Sondra said, stage 4 (or what is sometimes called secondary breast cancer) can't be cured but can be treated to prolong life. You collapsed vertebra can be fixed with various procedures to cement it in place if that's necessary. If it's too much to radiate everything they will likely pick the most painful areas to treat. You will almost.definitely need systemic treatment - they usually start hormone + pts with a hormone blockers or cdk4/6 inhibitor.

    What is your MO saying? Can you get copied of your scan results? They often clear things up a bit.

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  • hairyclairy
    hairyclairy Member Posts: 4
    edited May 2021

    thanks for reply i have told them everything have a oncologist meeting on fri to see what they say. I just wonder if this is it now or will i get back to walking a bit more normal, arw you walking around? Sorry to hear your plight sounds crap as well

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2021

    Yeah I walk just fine now, though it took a good six months of slow,gradual work, and I also had crutches and a cane. You would never know looking at how I move that I ever had a problem. Mobility is so important that they won't want you to lose it, but the NHS also moves at a snail pace so if they suggest radiation on that one met causing problems, it may not be for 10 days to 2 weeks and then follow up care may be lacking. I asked about PT and my oncologist looked at me like I had two heads, so I said screw it, got myself out of the NHS and rehabbed it alone after a few sessions with a private PT to learn modifications and the right way to do exercises. A lot of determination but since it was also Covid times there wasn't much else to do anyway.

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