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Follow-up and prognosis
Care for a breast cancer diagnosis is an ongoing process. Even after successful treatment, it doesn’t stop. For one thing, those who have, or have had, Brest cancer in any form must be especially vigilant against progression of the disease or its return.
If you have a history of breast cancer, your doctor will normally place you on a special schedule of follow-up screening, usually involving an increased frequency of office breast exams and mammography (or other radiology studies). If you have undergone surgery or other treatments, your surgeon or other specialist may also want to see you again or periodically, after completion of your care, to check on your healing and your overall status.
Based on the stage of your cancer, the outcome of your treatments, and other factors, your physician should be able to give you a prognosis, or a prediction on the course of your disease or recovery, and the durability of your remission. This is based partly on national statistics that indicate percentage chance of cure, recurrence, and survival over a given period of time. |
