I'm always told that risk of recurrence likely happens within two years and that the risk decreases significantly after 2 years. But is that 2 years after diagnosis or after treatment? If after treatment, does it mean primary treatment -- chemo? Or do you start counting after last infusion of Herceptin?
I had her2+ BC in 2006 and looking forward to passing that 2 year mark. Though I know -- the risk never really disappears....
Jean, I believe you start counting after "active treatment" - surgery and/or radiation and/or chemo. Not sure about Herceptin, but I believe that's considered a maintenance drug. Best thing to do is to ask your doctor to show you a recurrence chart - they have these easy to read charts showing how the risk goes down, and along what timeframe. It's different for everyone, depending on what type/severity of cancer you have. I think he one common milepost we all share is that, if you haven't had a recurrence after 20 years, chances are minuscule that you'll have one. Good luck! - PJH
I was told originally by my oncologist that if I could stay in remittance (after treatment ended) for 5 years I would be doing GREAT and have very LOW risk of reoccurence.
Unfortunately I only made it exactly 3 years from the day I was told my lumpectomy tested positive to the day I found out that my plastic surgeon found a suspicious scar tissue area that tested positive. My docs think that this recurrence is part of my original cancer from 3 years ago, even though I had a modified radical mastectomy - they think that while all was clear and I went through chemo, they think that the Femara I take daily (following chemo) isn't working to keep what little estrogen I still have from feeding into my cancer.
So my case is hopefully a little rarer than your regular occurence. I was looking forward to that 3rd anniversay, but now I'm back to day to day. Hopefully you'll hit #5 with no reoccurence! Best of luck to you!
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