| The following is a list of questions to ask your doctor about breast cancer recurrence, as well as tips for preparing for these conversations. |
| 1. What are my chances that breast cancer will recur? |
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| | Breast cancer can return in the same breast, the other breast, in nearby lymph nodes (localized breast cancer recurrence), or in other tissues in the body (metastasis). There is no way to predict who will have recurrent breast cancer, but some cancers are more likely to return than others. Your chance of recovery will depend on your age, general state of health, characteristics of your tumor such as its size and hormone receptor status, lymph node involvement, and the presence of an abnormal breast cancer gene. Hormone receptor-positive cancers tend to grow less aggressively and may respond favorably to anti-estrogen therapies. |
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| How You Can Prepare for this Discussion |
- Know your tumor stage, hormone receptor status, gene status and lymph node involvement
- Consider your feelings about long-term treatment
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| 2. What type of follow-up tests will I need? |
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| | Treatment often follows initial surgery and may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and/or hormonal therapy. To be sure that the cancer has not returned after treatment has been completed, your checkups may include physical exams, mammograms, blood tests, chest X-rays and bone scans. |
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| How You Can Prepare for this Discussion |
- Keep a three ring binder for all your lab and test results
- Know your hormone receptor status
- Know the stage of your disease at diagnosis
- Know if your tumor has tested positive for an abnormal gene
- Know how many lymph nodes were positive for cancer
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| 3. How will I know my breast cancer has returned? |
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| | Some breast cancers are more likely to recur than others. Typically, surgery to remove the breast tumor is followed by adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence, but some cancers are more aggressive than others and may come back. Your treatment team may recommend periodic tests such as X-rays, mammograms, blood work, and bone scans. Continue to perform breast self-exams and report any breast changes to your doctor. |
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| How You Can Prepare for this Discussion |
- Note any changes in the appearance, size, shape, or contour of the breast
- Let your doctor know if you notice any unusual changes in your treated breast or in your other breast
- Note if you have any swollen lymph glands
- Tell your treatment team if you have any pain, particularly bone pain, or other symptoms
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| 4. How would a recurrence be treated? |
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| | Treatment will depend on where the recurrence is located and your prior treatment. If breast cancer is found in the other breast, it may be a new tumor unrelated to the first breast cancer. Treatment may include the following:
- Surgery—breast conserving lumpectomy, modified mastectomy, radical mastectomy to remove the tumor and/or neighboring tissue
- Radiation therapy—high energy X-ray beams that keep cells from growing and dividing in the breast or lymph nodes
- Chemotherapy—drugs given through the blood stream to kill or stop the growth of cancer cells
- Hormonal therapy—used to treat hormone receptor-positive breast cancers by limiting the amount of estrogen circulating in the body
- Biologic Therapy—used to treat people whose breast cancers overexpress the HER2 gene
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| How You Can Prepare for this Discussion |
- Bring a list of all the treatments you received in the past
- Let your doctor know if you have had surgery to remove your ovaries or if you are in menopause
- List the side effects you experienced with past treatments
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| Supported through an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca Oncology |
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