Written By: Debjani Arora | Updated : October 9, 2017 12:56 PM IST
This drug may help to treat triple negative breast cancer. © Shutterstock
The fear of living with cancer is devastating, but it is not completely unjustified. The thing with cancer is that it can come back anytime and alter your life again. Women who have undergone breast cancer surgery or treatment live with this fear too often. While no one can say what will lead to a recurrence, certain markers could be suggestive enough about it after the first occurrence. Here are nine things that can put you at a risk of breast cancer.
We spoke to Dr Rucha Kaushik, consultant breast cancer surgeon, P D Hinduja Hospital & Research Centre to know more about the same.
What is a recurrence?
A recurrence is when a cancer is detected again after the first breast cancer surgery or removal of the primary tumour. In breast cancer recurrence, a tumour might be return back in the healthy part of the breast that was reserved, near the mastectomy scar if there were remaining breast tissues or could present itself outside the breast at the lymph nodes, bones, liver or lungs which are the common sites for recurrence. Sometimes the cancer can come back in the other breast which was previously cancer free. This, however, might not be a recurrence but an emergence of fresh cancer. Here are eight unusual signs of breast cancer recurrence that you should know.
Are there any risk factors for breast cancer recurrence?
There are few risk factors that can be indicative of a recurrence, they are
Tumour size: Tumours can be of various sizes depending on the stage and severity of the cancer. Some tumours grow rapidly while some at a moderate pace. But the size of the tumour during surgery can be suggestive of a recurrence. The bigger the tumour during the surgery more is the chances of recurrence.
Hormone receptors: Certain hormone receptors like the estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) can be indicative of a recurrence. For women who are ER, PR positive the chances of recurrence are less while women who are ER, PR negative have higher chances of recurrence. This is not to say that women with ER, PR positive might not face a recurrence. But in ER, PR positive cases if the recurrence happens the treatment might not be an aggressive one, for instance, if the cancer comes in the bone (which is most often the case) oral medications can be given to prevent the cancer growth, however, if it has spread to the liver and lungs chemotherapy followed by oral medications is the best way to treat.
But in case of ER, PR negative when a recurrence happens chemotherapy is the best line of treatment followed by radiation if necessary. Also, after a breast cancer surgery or treatment ER, PR positive people are put onto oral medications that can help to prevent a recurrence, but in ER, PR negative patients oral medications aren t very helpful.
Cancer spread: How far the cancer has spread can also be a risk factor for recurrence. If the cancer has spread far into the lymph nodes or into the blood vessels of the breasts, chances of a recurrence are more.
Genetic factors: The particular gene HER2 is also responsible to trigger the growth of cancer cells.
Grade of the tumour: The histologic grade and nuclear grade of the tumour also serves as markers for recurrence. The histologic grade refers to how similar the tumour resembles the normal cells and nuclear grade refers to how rapidly the cells divide.
What is the treatment for breast cancer recurrence?
The treatment for breast cancer recurrence or relapse depends on various factors, like, the stage at which you had the cancer previously, the treatment offered during that time and where did the cancer reoccur (whether it is localised or metastasised). Here are a few ways in which breast cancer recurrence can be treated:
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