How to Connect With Others With Metastatic Breast Cancer

People diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer — also known as stage IV (4) or advanced-stage breast cancer — face medical, emotional, and financial challenges that may be quite different from those of people with stage I, II, or III breast cancer. 

If you’re looking to connect with others who know what it’s like to live with metastatic breast cancer, you may want to explore the resources below:

Breastcancer.org hosts up to 18 free, live virtual support groups for people living with metastatic breast cancer each month. These sessions are led by a trained facilitator over Zoom and last about two hours. The schedule for support groups held each week is:

• Sponsor Message

  Monday at 2 p.m. ET

• Sponsor Message

  Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET

• Sponsor Message

  Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET

Breastcancer.org also hosts virtual support groups for specific MBC diagnoses, as well as partners:

• Sponsor Message

  Young With Metastatic Breast Cancer: Every other Thursday at noon ET

• Sponsor Message

  Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: First Wednesday of every month at 1 p.m. ET

• Sponsor Message

  Metastatic Lobular Breast Cancer: Third Thursday of every month at 2 p.m. ET

• Sponsor Message

  Metastatic Breast Cancer Partners: Every other Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET

Breastcancer.org also hosts special virtual support groups about once a month on many different topics, some specific to those with metastatic disease. Check the virtual support groups page for information on these special sessions, or sign up for any of the groups to get an emailed notification when a session is scheduled and an invitation to register.

To participate in the virtual support groups, you’ll need to create a free Community account and register for each meeting.

The organization CancerCare also runs a free, 15-week online support group for people with metastatic breast cancer. The group is led by an oncology social worker and takes place on a password-protected message board. Please note: This group doesn't have a live chat or video conference.

The Tigerlily Foundation has a program called MY LIFE — Metastatic Young, Living In Focus, Empowered. MY LIFE includes a magazine, video series, and other tools to educate people under age 45 who are living with metastatic breast cancer about the disease. 

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Network has compiled a list of in-person support groups for people with metastatic breast cancer in the United States and Canada.

Metavivor trains people living with metastatic breast cancer to lead peer support groups for other people with the disease. The groups are offered in locations across the country. Metavivor has an interactive map to help you locate support groups in your area. 

Through the Breastcancer.org Community, you can access discussion forums, where you can search for topics and ask and answer questions posted by other Community members. To participate, create a free Breastcancer.org Community account.

There are many retreats for people living with breast cancer. Some organizations host special retreats specifically for people living with MBC. Casting for Recovery provides free, two-day outdoor fishing retreats exclusively for women with metastatic breast cancer. MBC Travelers hosts monthly gatherings and annual bucket-list trips for people with metastatic breast cancer. Participants travel together as a group at deeply discounted rates. 

MBC Alliance features a list of in-person and virtual events for people with metastatic breast cancer.