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AFTER TREATMENT > Recurrence
RECURRENCE
When breast cancer comes back after your treatment, the illness is known as recurrence. We still do not fully understand why recurrence happens or when it might happen.
After making it through your first diagnosis and treatment, a diagnosis of recurrence can be discouraging. Recurrence can be even more daunting than your first diagnosis because you now know the kinds of changes and adjustments you will have to make if the recurrence is to be treated. However, it is also possible that recurrence may feel less daunting because you have the experience of your original diagnosis to draw upon this time.
Recurrence is often classified by the location where cancer is detected:
- Local recurrence means the cancer has come back in the area of the original tumour. Local recurrence also refers to a new tumour in the same breast.
- Regional recurrence means that breast cancer has come back in the area of the same breast, possibly involving the neck, chest, axillary lymph nodes (small fluid sacs under the arm) or torso.
- Distant recurrence means that breast cancer has come back in another part of the body, such as the in the liver or the bone. This is also called metastatic breast cancer or metastatic disease.
The location and other characteristics of the recurrence will help you and your health care team decide how to proceed.
The set of treatment options are the same for recurrence as for the primary cancer: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and HER-2 therapy. However, the treatment plan for you this time may be different from your previous plan.
Remind yourself that you got through treatment before and the experience you gained may help you cope even dealing with recurrence.
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