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What does metastatic mean?

It means the cancer has traveled from where it started to somewhere else in the body. A breast cancer that has moved to the bone is still breast cancer. It is not bone cancer.

That matters because we treat it with the drugs that work on breast cancer. Ask your team where it has gone and what that changes about the plan.

Written by two physicians. Checked against patient information from the US National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK.

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Content last updated 25 September 2026 · How we write these cards · Report a problem with this card

These cards are for learning. They are not medical advice and do not replace talking with your own doctor.