overview
- Recurrent breast cancer is breast cancer that comes back after the first treatment. Although the initial treatment is aimed at killing all cancer cells, some of the treatment may have escaped and survived. These undetected cancer cells multiply and become recurrent breast cancer.
- Recurrent breast cancer can occur months or years after your first treatment. The cancer may return in the same place as the original cancer (local relapse) or it may spread to other areas of your body (distant relapse).
- Finding out that you have recurring breast cancer can be harder than treating the initial diagnosis. But recurrent breast cancer is far from hopeless. Treatment can rule out recurring local, regional, or distant breast cancer. Even when there is no cure, treatment can control the disease for long periods of time. Recurrent breast cancer Treatment in Khammam
symptom
\The signs and symptoms of recurring breast cancer vary depending on where the cancer comes back.
Local recurrence
With a local relapse, the cancer returns to the same area as your original cancer.
If you’ve had a lumpectomy, the cancer may return in the remaining breast tissue. If you’ve had a mastectomy, the cancer may return in the tissues that line the chest wall or in the skin.
Signs and symptoms of local recurrence in the same breast can include:
- A new lump in your chest or an area of uneven firmness
- Changes in the skin of your chest
- Inflammation of the skin or area of redness
- Nipple secretion
The reasons
- Recurrent breast cancer occurs when cells that were part of your original breast cancer break away from the original tumor and hide near the breast or other part of your body. Later these cells start to grow again.
- Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, or any other treatment you may have received after your initial diagnosis of breast cancer to kill any cancer cells that may have remained after the surgery. But sometimes these treatments can’t kill all cancer cells.
- Sometimes cancer cells can rest for years without causing damage. Then something happens that activates the cells so that they grow and spread to other parts of the body. It is not known why this happens. Recurrent breast cancer Treatment in Khammam
Risk factors
Factors that increase the risk of recurrence in breast cancer survivors include:
Lymph node involvement. Finding cancer in nearby lymph nodes at the time of your initial diagnosis increases the risk of the cancer coming back.
Larger tumor size. People with larger tumors have a higher risk of recurring breast cancer.
Positive or closed tumor margins. During breast cancer surgery, the surgeon tries to remove the cancer along with a small amount of normal tissue around it. A pathologist examines the edges of the tissue to look for cancer cells.
If the margins are cancer-free under the microscope, this is considered a negative margin. If part of the border contains cancer cells (positive border) or if the distance between the tumor and normal tissue is close, the risk of breast cancer recurrence is increased.
Lack of radiation therapy after lumpectomy. Most people who choose to have a lumpectomy (wide local excision) for breast cancer undergo radiation therapy to the breast to reduce the risk of its recurrence. Those who don’t have radiation therapy are at increased risk of local breast cancer recurrence.
Young age. Younger people, especially those under 35 when they were first diagnosed with breast cancer, are at higher risk of having breast cancer recurring.
prevention
Strategies that have been linked to a reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence include:
Hormone therapy. Taking hormone therapy after your first treatment may reduce the risk of it coming back if you have hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Hormone therapy can last at least five years.
Chemotherapy. In people with breast cancer who are at increased risk of cancer recurrence, chemotherapy has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence, and those who receive chemotherapy live longer.
Radiotherapy. People who have had breast-friendly surgery to treat their breast cancer and people who have had a large tumor or inflammatory breast cancer are at lower risk of it coming back. Recurrent breast cancer Treatment in Khammam