Chances of Breast Cancer Coming Back After Chemotherapy
The fear of Breast Cancer returning (recurrence of breast cancer) is a crucial topic to discuss – read our thoughts on this below.
What’s On This Page
Some women who have survived breast cancer are scared of a recurrence and it’s a question that lingers – will it come back; and when?
The chances of breast cancer recurrence either as another lump or from spread to another organ depend on more than one factor.
What Makes It Likely Breast Cancer Will Come Back?
They include:
- the type, grade and stage of the cancer when it was detected,
- the treatment options used
- as well as the lady’s state of health and other previous medical problems.
To date, we do not have any form of chemotherapy that can totally cure breast cancer.
Rather, chemotherapy is used after surgery or radiotherapy to reduce the risk of the recurrence of breast cancer.
Predicting recurrence is not very straightforward.
Generally, if detected early, and treatment successfully removes the primary cancer then the risk of recurrence is low.
This is not always the case, though as the type of cancer and one’s family history may also contribute to the risk of recurrence.
This is a good place to discuss how breast cancer spreads.
How Breast Cancer Spreads
We already know malignant tissues grow into cells immediately next to them and this is how cancer grows, by invading other tissues.
But in addition to this, the cancer cells can also travel in the bloodstream and the other transport system in the body called the lymphatic system.
This is how cancer from the breast could spread to the liver or bone or brain.
It is also why it could be difficult to predict recurrence and only estimates are possible.
Want to learn more about Breast Cancer or Chemotherapy?
Read here and:
Editing by AskAwayHealth Team
Disclaimer
All AskAwayHealth articles are written by practising Medical Practitioners on a wide range of health care conditions to provide evidence-based guidance and to help promote quality health care. The advice in our material is not meant to replace the management of your specific condition by a qualified health care practitioner.
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Credit – Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash