The bone for sure and prob. the LUNG (per her doc).

[rodeodance]

NOT a good sign at all.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/ap_on_el_pr/edwards2008

......John Edwards said a biopsy of her rib had showed that the cancer had returned.

The bone is one of the most common places where breast cancer spreads, and once it does so it is not considered curable.

But how long women survive depends on how widespread the cancer is in the bone, and many can survive for years. The longer it takes for cancer to spread after the initial tumor, the better the prognosis. She was diagnosed in 2004.

Chemotherapy and radiation are standard treatments, along with use of drugs that specifically target the bones called bisphosphonates. Other treatments include hormone therapy if the cancer is responsive to estrogen.

Dr. Lisa Carey, Elizabeth Edwards' physician, said that initial tests showed some very small suspicious spots elsewhere, but that the therapy focus would be on the bone. Asked where else, she said "possibly involving the lung."

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. No, very much not good at all. :^(

[Maddy McCall]

2. This terrifies me for Elizabeth.

My mother's best friend had breast cancer. By all appearances, she had it beat for five years. Then it returned, in the form of bone cancer...after her recurrence was diagnosed, she didn't live but six months. It spread to her spine and organs. It was horrendous...

I hope some day that we can beat breast cancer...it's a terrible, brutal disease.

:(

[seemunkee]

10. Its still breast cancer, not bone cancer

Bone metastasis are not good but she can still go into remission.

[Maddy McCall]

14. I know that it's still a breast cancer diagnosis.

My mother's friend's breast cancer went into remission...but reappeared later in her bones...

I think that she didn't want to fight it again, and so she didn't go to the doctor as quickly as she should have.

She did not catch it soon enough...it was in her bones and then quickly in her organs...there was no chance for remission for her.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. Oh no. Not the lung.

That's what happened to my mother in her last year.

I hope she's got the best doctors in the country...

x(

[geardaddy]

4. Ugh. I feel for her.

My sister-in-law had breast cancer 15 years ago and was in remission until a couple of years ago they discovered she had bone cancer. She's getting treatment and is still living life to the fullest though. I hope Elizabeth can muster the strength to do the same.

[kestrel91316]

22. Metastatic breast cancer (to the bone). NOT primary bone cancer.

[geardaddy]

26. So, the breast cancer spread then?

Is that what you mean?

[niyad]

5. my prayers are with the family--my best friend died in 2005 --had survived for years with breast

cancer, lymphoma, even cervical cancer. when the cancer spread to her bones, she only survived a couple of months.

[knitter4democracy]

6. Oh crap. That's bad.

I'll start the chemo cap tonight.

[cassiepriam]

7. Prayers going out for her and the family. nt

[Contrary1]

8. One thing I caught in John Edwards' statement that I haven't seen mentioned here...

Was that the Cat Scan "didn't show much". I immediately thought that they were not sharing the whole story.
And that's fine, if that's what they have decided. Just something I picked up on.

[WinkyDink]

20. And aren't more tests coming? But then, I guess EE will be continually tested, now.

[Contrary1]

23. There will probably be more scans...

to see if it has spread anywhere else. She will most likely take drugs to strengthen her bones. It will help prevent fractures. If there is further spread, there are drugs for that as well.

I'm not real up to date on the latest treatments, to be honest with you. My cancer was detected after it reached the lymph nodes, but before it had gone any further.

There has been a lot of new therapies developed, since I was diagnosed. That was almost 10 years ago, and I'm still here fulfilling my lifelong ambition...wreaking havoc.

Elizabeth is a fighter, and I sense a stubbornness in her demeanor. I think she will fare well.

[Loge23]

9. Horrible news

Forget about the race, this is a human tragedy.
I'm sure that many of DU'ers, like myself, have gone through this - either personally or via family members.
It's just about the most devastating words that one can hear in the doctor's office.
Prayers and good thoughts for the Edwards.

[tenshi816]

11. I have an aunt with breast cancer.

Actually two aunts (it runs in my family) but the aunt I'm writing about has been fighting breast cancer since the early 1990s, and it spread to her bones years ago. It's been kept in check so far but it's been a long, rough road and she acknowledges that (a) she'll be on some form of cancer treatment for the rest of her life, and that (b) it will most likely be the cancer that kills her eventually.

Elizabeth Edwards seems like such a lovely person, and she strikes me as a fighter. My heart goes out to their entire family.

[Blackhatjack]

12. The stage IV classification contains a wide spectrum of cases...

It is simply a way of classifying the spread from one organ to another, not just to adjoining lymph nodes and tissue.

However, those classified as stage IV include those with widespread masses throughout the body to those who have a small tumor that recurs elsewhere(which is what we hope for Elizabeth).

Survival rates are as different as each different case.

We hope and pray that Elizabeth will be one of the lucky ones and see her cancer go into remission. It does happen.

No one would have given Lance Armstrong, Tour de France winner, much of a chance of survival much less competing again, based on the spread of his cancer throughout his body and into the brain. However, he did compete again and I believe won 3 more Tour de France races.

There are people out there like Lance Armstrong who give hope to all those diagnosed with cancer that has spread.

[rodeodance]

18. yes, conditional on many factors at this point.

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. Why can't they do a bone marrow transplant?

This is so sad.:(

[CrazyOrangeCat]

15. I think that only works for leukemia.

:(

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. Ah shit.

:(

[kestrel91316]

24. This is not a primary bone marrow cancer. It's a metastatic spread

of breast cancer to the bone. Completely different "ANIMAL".

[The Wielding Truth]

17. None of us have a guarantee of time. She must live the best she can.

She is loved and that is all any us us can hope for.

Bless you,dear Elizabeth, and may all the cosmic powers support your fight to heal, sustain, and survive.

[Bluerthanblue]

25. amen... thank you for your beautiful post. eom

[Delphinus]

27. Beautifully true,

that being loved is all we can hope for.

May she (and all like her) find the strength to face her journey.

[RebelOne]

19. My sister had kidney cancer and within weeks it spread to the lungs

and she died within days.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

21. I'm sorry about your sister.

It's a horrible thing to watch.

Talk about being helpless . . .

:hug: