Symptom management in metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

Approximately 40,000 women die as a result of breast cancer each year and many more live with advanced disease. When breast cancer recurs, the goals of treatment often shift from one of cure to controlling the disease for as long as possible while palliating symptoms interfering with the patient's functional status and quality of life. This requires ongoing discussions with the patient and family about the goals of care. Many symptoms depend on the site of metastasis, with bone being the most frequent, and commonly occur with fatigue, depression, insomnia, and pain. The purpose of this paper is to identify and provide an overview of the management of the most common symptoms in patients with breast cancer metastases.

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: William Irvin Jr: None; Hyman B. Muss: None; Deborah K. Mayer: None.

The content of this article has been reviewed by independent peer reviewers to ensure that it is balanced, objective, and free from commercial bias. No financial relationships relevant to the content of this article have been disclosed by the authors or independent peer reviewers.

Figures

Figure 1.

Third-generation model of palliative and hospice care. From Mazanec P, Daly B, Ptorak E et al. A new model of palliative care for oncology patients with advanced disease. J Hosp Palliat Nurs 2009;11:324–331. Reprinted with permission from Wolters Kluwer Health.