About 5% of the 20,000 people who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Australia are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. For these people, this is their first diagnosis of breast cancer. This type of metastatic breast cancer is called ‘de novo’ metastatic breast cancer – de novo means ‘from the beginning’.

However, most people diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer have previously been diagnosed with early breast cancer. Someone diagnosed with early breast cancer has a 20-30% chance that in their lifetime they will experience recurrence of their breast cancer somewhere else in their body. This could be years or decades after their original early breast cancer diagnosis.

Australia’s cancer registries do not yet routinely report stage at diagnosis or cancer recurrence. Without those data, the exact number of people living with MBC cannot be directly counted.

To address this, in 2025, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), supported by $1.5 million in Federal Government funding, analysed de‑identified health records (including treatment and hospital admissions). AIHW estimates that about 21,000 people are living with MBC in Australia. This figure is higher than is commonly recognised and underscores the need for dedicated care, survivorship support, and research.

No, apart from in a very small number of people, metastatic breast cancer is not considered to be curable. However, there are many drugs available to treat metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer is therefore considered to be a ‘treatable but not curable’ disease. This means that although we do not yet have a cure for metastatic breast cancer, people with metastatic breast cancer can be treated with a variety of different drugs, often for many years.