The University of Arizona Cancer Center is raising awareness about metastatic breast cancer.
At Stage 4, the cancer spreads to other organs in the body and usually is lethal.
“The numbers surrounding metastatic breast cancer are alarming and for the Phoenix friends it was an easy decision to step up and be part of telling the metastatic breast cancer story. The statistic that 3 of 10 patients with breast cancer could become metastatic breast cancer patients is a startling, no, a shocking figure," said Mary Kolbe, president of the Phoenix Friends of the Arizona Cancer Center, which has partnered with Dignity Health to raise awareness with its “For the 30” campaign.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. The five-year survival rate is 99 percent if diagnosed early. That survival rate for those with metastatic breast cancer is 22 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.
