Treatment will depend on the location, extent of recurrent disease, previous management and the patient’s preferences and may include all modalities of therapies (surgery, radiation therapy and systemic therapy). Antiresorptive therapy may be warranted if bone metastases are present. In most cases, a combination of anti-cancer and supportive therapies will provide the most effective overall…

The treatment team should support the patient to participate in research and clinical trials where available and appropriate. For patients with metastatic breast cancer, participation in clinical trials should be revisited by the multidisciplinary team due to alterations in the patient’s disease such as resistance to current treatment or new trials available. For more information…

Advance care planning is important for all patients with a cancer diagnosis but especially those with advanced disease. Patients should be encouraged to think and talk about their healthcare values and preferences with family or carers, appoint a substitute decision-maker and consider developing an advance care directive to convey their preferences for future health care…

Support cancer survivors to participate in research or clinical trials where they are available and appropriate. These might include studies to understand survivors’ issues, to better manage treatment side effects, or to improve models of care and quality of life. For more information visit: Cancer Australia website Breast Cancer Trials website

Early referral to palliative care can improve the quality of life for people with cancer and in some cases may be associated with survival benefits (Haines 2011; Temel et al. 2010; Zimmermann et al. 2014). The treatment team should emphasise the value of palliative care in improving symptom management and quality of life to patients…

Cancer is the third leading cause of burden of disease for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. While Australia’s cancer survival rates are among the best in the world, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to experience a different pattern of cancer incidence and significant disparities in cancer outcomes compared with non-Indigenous Australians. For…

Consider the possibility of metastatic breast cancer if the patient has a symptom that persists over several weeks, tending to get worse rather than better and is otherwise unexplained. Some cases of metastatic disease will be detected at the same time as presentation with the initial primary breast cancer (‘de novo metastatic disease’). Signs and…