Age: Women who develop breast cancer before age 35 are more likely to get breast cancer again. Cancer stage: Cancer stage at the time of diagnosis correlates with the risk of the cancer being able to recur.
The risk of recurrence depends on the type of breast cancer and its stage. Timing matters, too: The highest risk of recurrence for breast cancer patients is during the first few years after treatment.
According to the Susan G. Komen® organization, women with early breast cancer most often develop local recurrence within the first five years after treatment. On average, 7 percent to 11 percent of women with early breast cancer experience a local recurrence during this time.
Lower risk recurrence: Some breast cancer, when diagnosed very early when small and without lymph node involvement, have an excellent prognosis and are very unlikely to recur.
Stage 2 breast cancer generally has a good prognosis and can be cured with treatments. On average, 7 to 11 percent of women with early breast cancer may experience a local recurrence in the first five years following treatment.
Breast cancer can spread anywhere but most commonly goes to the: liver. lungs.
Breast cancer has a high risk of recurrence when any of the following apply: The tumour is larger than 5 cm in diameter. The cancer cells are triple negative, which means they don't have receptors for estrogen or progesterone and they don't have extra copies of the HER2 gene. The tumour is high grade (grade 3).
Low-risk childhood acute myeloid leukemia demonstrates low recurrence rates beginning at 9%. Abbreviations: ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia; AML, acute myeloid leukemia; DLBCL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; PTCL, peripheral T-cell lymphoma; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer.
If you remain in complete remission for five years or more, some doctors may say that you are cured, or cancer-free.
If the cancer has spread (secondary breast cancer)
The most common places for the cancer to spread is to the bones, liver, lungs or brain. The symptoms you may experience will depend on where in the body the cancer has spread to. Your doctor will arrange for you to have some tests.
Sometimes breast cancer cells can spread from the primary cancer in the breast to other parts of the body. This is called secondary or metastatic breast cancer. Secondary breast cancer commonly affects the bones, lungs, liver and brain.
Controlling your weight, being physically active, and eating well may lower your risk of breast cancer returning, as well as help protect you from other health problems. While we have not proven diet changes and exercising more prevent breast cancer recurrence, they may reduce the risk.
On average, breast cancers double in size every 180 days, or about every 6 months. Still, the rate of growth for any specific cancer will depend on many factors.
Breast cancer (BC) is mainly diagnosed in early stages (90–95%), however 20–30% of these patients become metastatic [1] and to this day incurable.
Overall, the chance that an estrogen receptor-positive tumor will recur (distant recurrence) between five years and 20 years after diagnosis ranges from 10% to over 41%, and people with these tumors remain at risk for the remainder of their lives.
Most local recurrences of breast cancer occur within five years of a lumpectomy. You can lower your risk by getting radiation therapy afterward. You have a 3% to 15% chance of breast cancer recurrence within 10 years with this combined treatment.
NONINVASIVE BREAST CANCER
“Ductal” refers to the milk ducts in the breast, and “in situ” means “in its original place.” DCIS is a stage 0 cancer, which is the earliest and generally the most treatable form of breast cancer. Although DCIS is noninvasive when it's diagnosed, over time it can become invasive.
Potential reasons behind this statistic include larger left breast size, more frequent self-screening of left breast, and right-side breastfeeding preferences.
There has been some disagreement over the connection between vitamin D levels and breast cancer. Current research shows that having low vitamin D levels might be linked to a higher risk for cancer recurrence.
Triple-negative breast cancers tend to grow and spread more quickly than other types of breast cancer. Because of this, triple-negative breast cancer is considered to be more aggressive than other forms of breast cancer.
The sentinel lymph node
When cancer spreads, the lymph node located closest to the original tumor (the sentinel node) is usually affected first. In breast cancer cases, the sentinel lymph node is often located in the underarm area.
Summary. Breast cancer is associated with a higher risk of developing a second non-breast cancer. Certain types of cancer like stomach cancer, colon cancer, uterus cancer, ovarian cancer, sarcoma, and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) can develop after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Our findings indicate that approximately 1 in 9 breast cancer patients developed a second cancer, 1 in 13 developed second non-breast cancer, and 1 in 30 developed a contralateral breast cancer by 10 years.
The risk of breast cancer recurring is higher in the first few years and reduces as time goes on. However, recurrence can happen even many years after treatment, which is why it's important to be breast and body aware, and report any changes to your treatment team or GP.