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How often do you see your oncologist after breast cancer?

Author

Carter Sullivan

Updated on February 16, 2026

How often do you see your oncologist after breast cancer?

After you finish treatment for breast cancer, you'll see your oncologist and other members of your health care team on a regular basis, usually about every 6 months for the first few years. After that, you'll see them every year for many years.

Keeping this in view, how long do you see an oncologist after breast cancer?

Doctor Visits and Tests

Typically, you should see your doctors every 3 months for the first 2 years after treatment ends, every 6 months during years 3 through 5, and then annually for the rest of your life.

Subsequently, question is, how can you tell if breast cancer is recurrent? Signs and symptoms of local recurrence on the chest wall after a mastectomy may include: One or more painless nodules on or under the skin of your chest wall.

Local recurrence

  1. A new lump in your breast or irregular area of firmness.
  2. Changes to the skin of your breast.
  3. Skin inflammation or area of redness.
  4. Nipple discharge.

In this way, how often should you see your oncologist?

In general, people return to the doctor for follow-up appointments every 3 to 4 months during the first 2 to 3 years after treatment, and once or twice a year after that. At these visits, you may have a physical exam along with blood tests and other necessary tests and procedures.

What type breast cancer has the highest recurrence rate?

T2N1-stage malignancies showed the highest risk for local recurrence, regional recurrence, and distant metastases (6.2%, 5.2% and 19.6%, respectively) within 10 years from diagnosis.

Are you considered cancer free after 5 years?

In a complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared. If you remain in complete remission for 5 years or more, some doctors may say that you are cured. Still, some cancer cells can remain in your body for many years after treatment. These cells may cause the cancer to come back one day.

Who is the best breast cancer oncologist?

Recognized Oncologists
  • George Sledge Jr, MD, Stanford University Medical Center, California.
  • George Somlo, MD, City of Hope, Duarte, -California.
  • Vered Stearns, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore.
  • Tiffany Traina, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
  • Eric Winer, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston ¦

Can you live a long life after breast cancer?

It is the percentage of patients who live at least five years after they are diagnosed with cancer. Many of these patients live much longer, and some patients die earlier from causes other than breast cancer.

Doctor's response.

StageFive-year survival rate
I100%
II93%
III72%
IV22%

What kind of oncologist treats breast cancer?

A breast surgeon or surgical oncologist: a doctor who uses surgery to treat breast cancer. A radiation oncologist: a doctor who uses radiation to treat cancer. A medical oncologist: a doctor who uses chemotherapy and other medicines to treat cancer.

How long does it take to recover from radiotherapy for breast cancer?

Side effects of radiotherapy for breast cancer. Radiotherapy can cause side effects in the area of your body that is being treated. You may also have some general side effects, such as feeling tired. After treatment finishes, it may be 1 to 2 weeks before side effects start getting better.

How long does breast cancer take to develop?

Breast cancer has to divide 30 times before it can be felt. Up to the 28th cell division, neither you nor your doctor can detect it by hand. With most breast cancers, each division takes one to two months, so by the time you can feel a cancerous lump, the cancer has been in your body for two to five years.

How long can you live after breast cancer treatment?

Around 25 out of 100 women (around 25%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed. The cancer is not curable at this point, but may be controlled with treatment for some years.

What are the long term side effects of radiation for breast cancer?

Long-term side effects can last beyond a year after treatment. They may include a slight darkening of your skin, enlarged pores on your breast, more or less sensitive skin, thickening of breast tissue or skin, and a change in the size of the breast.

What is a chemo belly?

Bloating can also be caused by slowed movement of food through the G.I. (gastrointestinal tract or digestive tract) tract due to gastric surgery, chemotherapy (also called chemo belly), radiation therapy or medications. Whatever the cause, the discomfort is universally not welcome.

What chemo is called the Red Devil?

Can the red devil be defanged? Doxorubicin, an old chemotherapy drug that carries this unusual moniker because of its distinctive hue and fearsome toxicity, remains a key treatment for many cancer patients.

Why would you see an oncologist?

An oncologist is a doctor who treats cancer and provides medical care for a person diagnosed with cancer. The field of oncology has three major areas: medical, surgical, and radiation. A medical oncologist treats cancer using chemotherapy or other medications, such as targeted therapy or immunotherapy.

What happens at your first oncology appointment?

At the first appointment, the oncologist will talk about treatment options. The doctor will explain which ones are available, how effective they are and what the side effects may be. Then the oncologist will recommend a course and talk about when the treatments should take place.

How long does chemo stay in the system?

The chemotherapy itself stays in the body within 2 -3 days of treatment but there are short-term and long-term side effects that patients may experience. Not all patients will experience all side effects but many will experience at least a few.

What should I ask my oncologist after treatment?

Questions to Ask Your Doctor When You Have Finished Treatment
  • How long will it take for me to get better and feel more like myself?
  • What kind of care should I expect after my treatment?
  • What long-term health issues can I expect as a result of my cancer and its treatment?
  • What is the chance that my cancer will return?
  • What symptoms should I tell you about?

How many rounds of chemo is normal?

You may need four to eight cycles to treat your cancer. A series of cycles is called a course. Your course can take 3 to 6 months to complete -- and you may need more than one course of chemo to beat the cancer.

What tests are done after chemotherapy?

After treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy, your doctor will examine you for any new growths. You'll also get blood tests, X-rays, and other imaging tests. These tests will measure your tumor and see if your treatment has slowed or stopped your cancer.

What are the signs that chemo is not working?

Here are some signs that chemotherapy may not be working as well as expected: tumors aren't shrinking. new tumors keep forming. cancer is spreading to new areas.

Can you live 20 years after breast cancer?

Since the hazard rate associated with inflammatory breast cancer shows a sharp peak within the first 2 years and a rapid reduction in risk in subsequent years, it is highly likely that the great majority of patients alive 20 years after diagnosis are cured.

Is Stage 2 breast cancer considered early stage?

Stage 2 breast cancer means that the cancer is either in the breast or in the nearby lymph nodes or both. It is an early stage breast cancer.

How can I prevent breast cancer recurrence?

To help yourself better cope with the side effects of breast cancer treatment and to reduce your chances of breast cancer recurrence, try incorporating these healthy tips:
  1. Take care of yourself emotionally.
  2. Take care of yourself physically.
  3. Eat healthy.
  4. Reduce stress.
  5. Limit alcohol.
  6. Exercise regularly.

What are the chances of Stage 1 breast cancer returning?

For example, women diagnosed with T1 cancer with zero positive lymph nodes had less than a 1% risk of distant recurrence per year for 5 to 20 years after diagnosis. This works out to be a cumulative risk of distant recurrence of 13% 20 years after diagnosis.

Is breast cancer worse the second time?

Still, breast cancer recurrence does happen. Even if the original breast cancer doesn't come back, your risk of developing a new, second breast cancer in the same or opposite breast is much higher than average.

Can you be completely cured of breast cancer?

Whether metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is someone's first diagnosis or a recurrence after treatment for earlier-stage breast cancer, it can't be cured. However, treatments can keep it under control, often for months at a time.

What is the 10 year survival rate for breast cancer?

The average 10-year survival rate for women with invasive breast cancer is 84%. If the invasive cancer is located only in the breast, the 5-year survival rate of women with breast cancer is 99%.

Which cancer has highest recurrence rate?

Some cancers are difficult to treat and have high rates of recurrence. Glioblastoma, for example, recurs in nearly all patients, despite treatment. The rate of recurrence among patients with ovarian cancer is also high at 85%.

Related Articles.

Cancer TypeRecurrence Rate
Glioblastoma2Nearly 100%

Can you get breast cancer again after a mastectomy?

Even though the entire breast is removed in a mastectomy, breast cancer can still return to the chest area. If you notice any changes around the mastectomy scar, tell your health care provider. The more lymph nodes with cancer at the time of the mastectomy, the higher the chances of breast cancer recurrence.

How often does triple positive breast cancer recur?

During the study period, recurrences were reported in 11 of 169 patients (6.5%) with triple-positive breast cancer, 29 of 724 patients (4.0%) with the luminal A subtype, and 22 of 206 patients (10.7%) with the HER2-enriched subtype.

What is the treatment for breast cancer recurrence?

Distant Breast Cancer Recurrence

These treatments may include: Chemotherapy. Radiation therapy. Hormonal therapy.

How do you know what stage breast cancer you have?

Doctors have many ways to find out what stage of breast cancer you have. Clues come from physical exams, biopsies, X-rays, bone scans and other images, and blood tests. A doctor called a pathologist puts tissue samples from the breast and lymph nodes under the microscope to find out even more.

Does mastectomy reduce risk recurrence?

FACT: Undergoing a bilateral mastectomy drastically reduces your chances of breast cancer recurrence since almost all of your breast tissue has been removed. There is a very small chance that residual breast tissue or cancer cells could recur on the chest wall.

Can you live 30 years after breast cancer?

30-year survival rate

Researchers have found that women diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer have higher 30-year survival rates than those diagnosed with stage 2, 3, or 4 breast cancer. Each advanced stage has lower survival rates than earlier stages.

What is the recurrence rate of her2 positive breast cancer?

The researchers found: 10% to 23% of women diagnosed with small, HER2-positive cancer had a recurrence within 5 years of diagnosis compared to about 5% of women diagnosed with HER2-negative cancer.