Can breast cancer recurrence occur years after treatment?

Question

Hi,

I am a 46-year-old woman. I felt a hard lump the size of a lemon in my right breast. I thought it was normal and left it unnoticed. But later, when I visited the doctor for another illness, I told him this when he was taking my medical history. It was suspected to be breast cancer and suggested a few diagnostic tests. A week later, I got a call confirming the diagnosis that it was breast cancer. All this happened four years back. I was under treatment. I took chemotherapy and radiation and underwent surgery. Everything went well after that. But when I went for a follow-up visit last week, I was asked to get a CT scan done, in which they found a few suspicious spots. It has been two years since I was on treatment, but can it recur again? Will I have to beat it forever?

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

After initial diagnosis, the first three years are risky for recurrence.

The amount of risk depends on initial histopathological details and staging.

Now, if they have found some suspicious lesions, they should do a positron emission tomography (PET) or computed tomography (CT) scan and biopsy from any accessible lesion.

Once the biopsy report is available, the oncologist will plan for further management. There are a lot of new treatments available.

If you can, share all previous and new medical reports. I can try to send you a detailed plan of management.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.