How would a breast cancer recurrence be treated?

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How would a breast cancer recurrence be treated?

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The type of treatment for local breast cancer recurrences depends on your initial treatment. If you had a lumpectomy, local recurrence is usually treated with mastectomy. If the initial treatment was mastectomy, recurrence near the mastectomy site is treated by removing the tumor whenever possible, usually followed by radiation therapy.

In either case, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and/or radiation therapy may be used after surgery. If breast cancer is found in the other breast, it may be a new tumor unrelated to the first breast cancer. Treatment would include a lumpectomy or mastectomy and possibly radiation and/or systemic therapy (chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy).

Women with distant recurrence involving organs such as the bones, lungs, brain, or other organs are treated with systemic therapy. Radiation therapy or surgery may also be recommended to relieve certain symptoms.

Immunotherapy with Herceptin alone or with chemotherapy may be recommended for women whose cancer cells have high levels of the HER2 protein.

This answer should not be considered medical advice...This answer should not be considered medical advice and should not take the place of a doctor’s visit. Please see the bottom of the page for more information or visit our Terms and Conditions.

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