Living with and beyond cancer
Looking after how you feel
Cancer affects your feelings as well as your body, and support matters from the very first day, not just at the end.
You do not have to do this alone
Talking to someone helps. CANSA runs a free help line, support groups, and tele-counselling, for you and for the people close to you.
Follow-up after treatment
After treatment, regular follow-up checks help spot any return of the cancer early, keep an eye on side effects, and give you practical and emotional support. Follow-up usually means regular physical examinations and breast imaging, such as a mammogram or ultrasound.
If cancer comes back
Sometimes breast cancer returns. If it comes back in the same area, this is called a recurrence. If it appears somewhere not directly connected to the first cancer, this is called a metastasis. It can return in the breast or chest wall, the lymph nodes, the bones, the lungs, the liver, or the brain. Your team will explain what to watch for.
Eating well and staying active
Good nutrition and gentle activity support recovery and wellbeing.
Detailed, reviewed nutrition and exercise guidance is being added, including guides for managing common effects of treatment.
For family and supporters
If you are caring for someone, looking after yourself matters too.
Knowing what to say, and what to expect, helps you help them.
Practical help day to day often matters more than the right words.
Support groups and the CANSA help line are there for supporters too.
Living with advanced breast cancer
Advanced, or metastatic, breast cancer is treated as something to live with. The focus moves to control, comfort, and quality of life.
Metastatic breast cancer (also called MBC, stage 4, or advanced breast cancer) is cancer that has spread beyond the breast and the lymph nodes under the arm. It most often spreads to the bones, lungs, liver, or brain. Wherever it spreads, it is still made of breast cancer cells. For some people it is found at diagnosis, but more often it appears months or years after earlier treatment.
Signs of spread
Symptoms depend on where the cancer is. Bone spread can cause pain. Spread to the brain can cause headaches, seizures, or unsteadiness. Shortness of breath can point to the lungs. Swelling in the abdomen or yellowing of the skin can point to the liver. Some people have no symptoms, and the spread is found on a scan.
Pain can be treated
You should never feel that pain is simply part of treatment or something to endure. Pain is usually easier to control when it is treated early. Palliative care specialists are trained to manage pain and symptoms so you can live as well as possible.
Support for advanced cancer
CANSA runs an online and WhatsApp support programme for people living with metastatic breast cancer, alongside the help line. You do not have to face it alone.
Talk to someone who understands.
CANSA's toll-free help line is free and confidential, for patients and for those supporting them.
How we made this page
Where this information comes from
- Follow-up, recurrence, and survivorship (CANSA, Breast Cancer in Women fact sheet).
- Advanced and metastatic breast cancer (CANSA, Metastatic Breast Cancer fact sheet and iSurvivor support).
- Emotional, caregiver, and nutrition resources (National Breast Cancer Foundation).
Facts on this page are stated in our own words from the sources above. This is an early draft for awareness only and is not medical advice. Always follow the guidance of your own care team.