Stage IV Breast Cancer: Iris's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Sex
- Female
- Spread to
- Spine; liver; bone
- Treatment
- surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, systemic therapy and maintenance
- Outcome
- Living With Cancer
Treatment course, step by step
- 2010 Stage IIA breast cancer after right breast lump, mammogram, and biopsy
- lumpectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy
- yearly mammograms/bloodwork
- 2023 worsening pain led to imaging showing kidney stones plus liver lesions
- Stage IV metastatic breast cancer involving spine, liver, and bones
- systemic maintenance therapy with monthly injection, blood work, and heart checks every 2-3 weeks.
What happened, in summary
Iris Lopez-Mendez first faced breast cancer in 2010 after feeling a lump in her right breast. Mammogram and biopsy confirmed Stage IIA breast cancer, and she was treated with lumpectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy. For years afterward, she kept up with bloodwork and annual mammograms and celebrated each year farther from treatment. Life moved forward: she retired in 2018, adopted her niece with her husband, and traveled with family. Then unexplained pain slowly became harder to ignore. In 2022, hip pain made walking difficult, and by 2023 she had been to the emergency room 3 times without a clear answer. During a later mammogram visit, she mentioned the pain and was sent to the ER to check for kidney stones. Imaging did find kidney stones, but it also showed lesions on her liver. More testing followed, and Iris learned the breast cancer had returned as Stage IV metastatic disease involving her spine, liver, and bones. As of August 2025, she was receiving systemic maintenance therapy, including a monthly injection, blood work, and heart checks every 2-3 weeks. Iris wanted others to know that persistent pain can matter and that self-advocacy can be lifesaving.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by Susan G. Komen. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer