Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. Breast cancer may recur either in the breast, in the soft tissues of the chest (the chest wall), or in another part of the body.
All of the factors that help determine the treatment of first-time breast cancer are also considered when choosing a treatment course for recurrent breast cancers — hormone receptor status, stage and grade of cancer, etc. However, there are some additional factors that need to be considered with recurrent breast cancer, including:
Age, health, and menopausal status of the patient at the time of recurrence
The kind of treatment the patient had before
The length of time from the first treatment to when the cancer recurred
Treatment may be one of the following:
Tamoxifen therapy
Other types of hormone therapy
Surgery and/or radiation therapy (for the small group of patients whose cancer has come back only in one place in the body)
Combination chemotherapy
Re-treatment with previously used therapies
A clinical trial of new chemotherapy or new biologic therapy
|
