Breast cancer can recur if initial treatment does not remove all cancer cells in the body. In most cases, the prognosis for recurrent breast cancer is not as poor as those with more advanced breast cancer.
Most breast cancer recurrences appear within five years of completion of successful treatment; but there remains a 10 percent chance of recurrence for up to 10 years. If prior treatment did not involve total removal of breast tissue, the cancer may recur at or near the same location as the original lesion.
Raloxifene is a prescription medication given to post-menopausal women who are at risk for breast cancer. Often, doctors prescribe raloxifene for women who are breast cancer survivors in order to prevent a recurrence of cancer.
If you've been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may have a choice between a lumpectomy and a mastectomy. You should consider the extent of your cancer, how aggressively you want to treat it and the possibility of recurrence in making your decision.
Breast cancer is a life-altering condition. Recurrent breast cancer happens when the illness comes back after the initial treatment. This can happen months or years after having the initial diagnosis. For many women, a second diagnosis of breast cancer can be more mentally and physically draining. However, there are certain signs to be aware of that can cause the disease to make a return appearance. Knowing your risks is important to every woman who has lived through the first diagnosis.
Distant breast cancer recurrence refers to breast cancer that returns in a different location than the original site of the cancer. In other words, the cancer does not come back in the breast, but it comes back in some other part of the body. This does not mean that you have cancer of the part of the body it returned in. For example, if the distant breast cancer comes back in the liver, you do not have liver cancer---you have primary breast cancer with liver metastases. The fact that the cancer is in a distant location means the breast cancer…
Recurrent breast cancer is defined as breast cancer that reoccurs in the same spot as the original breast cancer. In other words, the cancer must come back in exactly the same spot, or very near, to the site of the original cancer in order for the cancer to be recurrent. If breast cancer forms in a different part of the same breast where the cancer originally formed, or in the other breast, it is not considered recurrent breast cancer but a new instance of primary breast cancer. Recurrent breast cancer comes in several different forms--local, regional and distant recurrence. The…
Although breast cancer can be treated, like other cancers, there is a chance of breast cancer recurring. Most recurrences of breast cancer happen in the first three to five years after the treatment, and sometimes they do not appear in the breast but can appear in the lymph nodes, the bones, liver or lungs. There are many changes in a woman's body that indicate that the cancer has recurred, but there are also treatment options in case it does.
According to the National Women's Health Information Center, about 10 percent of patients who receive a lumpectomy and radiation therapy for breast cancer will experience a recurrence within the following 12 years. While there is no way to completely eliminate the possibility of breast cancer recurrence, there are a number of things that can be done to greatly lower the risk.
Breast mastitis which has occurred more than once in a lactating (nursing) mother should be explored in order to determine the cause of the recurrent infections. If a mother can recognize the signs before she becomes noticeably ill, she may be able to resolve the infection on her own. If not, there are some treatment options.
Breast cancer recurrence is ultimately characterized by the reappearance of cancerous cells to the originally affected area, namely the breast or chest tissue, depending on the individual's sex. Any sort of recurrence typically occurs between 3 to 5 years after a person's initial round of treatment. While it is standard practice to monitor your own condition, it can be difficult to detect whether the breast cancer has returned, making it important to understand what sort of symptoms you should be looking for in this form of cancer.