Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day: Dr Andrea Smith expects to lose her life once treatment ends

Mother-of-three Andrea Smith knows she will lose her life to an incurable form of breast cancer. But she is determined to help other sufferers while she can.

One week, Andrea Smith was on cloud nine, having landed her dream job as a university lecturer.

The next, she was digesting the heart-wrenching news she had incurable breast cancer.

The mother-of-three was told she had stage four metastatic cancer, with the average survival rate was two to three years.

While she has lived beyond that prediction, the now 54-year-old knows she will lose her life to the disease once treatment options run out.

“It is incredibly difficult but something that I have gradually come to accept,” she said.

“In the past six years I have lost dozens of friends to metastatic breast cancer so I know what is ahead of me. It doesn’t mean that I’m not scared at times or feel very sad.”

Dr Andrea Smith was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2016. Picture: Supplied

More than 10,000 people are thought to be living with metastatic breast cancer in Australia and, although stage four cancer can be treated, it is considered incurable.

“(After the diagnosis) I felt very alone, very confused. It took me many months to pick myself up again,” she said.

“What is most challenging is to deal with the constant uncertainty around how long the drugs will work and how long you have left to live.”

Of women diagnosed with breast cancer, about five per cent are at stage four, meaning the cancer has already metastasised, or spread, to distant sites in the body.

Dr Andrea Smith pictured with husband Robert Smith, and daughters Frances, Isla and Molly. Picture: Supplied

And with an estimated 20,000 new diagnoses in Australia annually, more than 3000 patients die from the disease each year, according to the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA).

“Greater investment is needed in research and the collection of data of those with metastatic breast cancer, which is scarce at best, making those with the disease feel somewhat invisible,” BCNA policy and advocacy director Vicki Durston said.

Wednesday is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day and Dr Smith, who now works as a cancer researcher at the Daffodil Centre, is trying to improve the system and access to care for others.

“For several years I was adamant that I wouldn’t get involved in breast cancer research or advocacy,” she said.

“However, after about three years I just couldn’t resist as there are so many gaps in services for people with metastatic breast cancer.

“There is also a lot of misunderstanding about metastatic breast cancer and what this means in terms of your treatment and survival.”

Originally published as Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day: Dr Andrea Smith expects to lose her life once treatment ends