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- 25 percent of women who had breast cancer are likely to have a recurrence.
- Approximately 33 percent of women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer experience a recurrence. Over half of these occur more than five years after surgery.
- Breast cancer recurrence means that cancer has reappeared after it had been gone for some time. The cancer is not a new disease; it is the same cancer the person originally had.
- Breast cancer recurrence can be local (confined to the breast where it started, or the skin and tissues where the breast was), regional (spread to nearby lymph nodes), or metastatic (spread to other parts of the body that are not near the breast, such as bones, the brain, liver, and lungs).
- When breast cancer spreads to another organ, the disease in that organ is still breast cancer. Breast cancer is easier to treat than some cancers that originate in other organs.
- Breast cancer recurrence can be thought of as a chronic disease; that is, a disease you live with. No one knows how long you will live with it, but no one knows how long anyone will live. We do know that new, very effective treatments are being developed constantly.
- Treatments for breast cancer recurrence are considered either local (targeted at a specific area) or systemic (affecting the entire body).
- Local treatments include surgery and radiation; systemic treatments include chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immunotherapy. The choice of treatment depends on the specifics of the case.
- The goals of treatment may be to control the disease, to prolong life, and to improve quality of life. Each individual must decide for herself what "quality of life" means, and what quality of life she wants.
- Treatment should deal with the psychological and emotional results of the disease, as well as the physical symptoms. A professional psychotherapist should be part of the person's medical team.
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