The peak of breast cancer recurrence occurs 1-3 years after surgery. 20-40% of operable breast cancers will eventually develop recurrence and metastasis, and about 5% of breast cancer patients have distant metastasis at the time of initial diagnosis. Combined with the current domestic research and the national situation of China, the following review protocol is better to prevent breast cancer recurrence and metastasis: 1-2 years after surgery, review every 3-4 months. 3-5 years after surgery, review every 6 months. From the 6th year after surgery, review once a year.
Post-operative breast cancer review items
1. Affected chest wall (affected breast for breast-conserving patients): to exclude local recurrence.
2.Contralateral breast: to exclude contralateral metastasis.
3.Bilateral axillary and bilateral supraclavicular fossa ultrasound: exclude common lymphatic metastasis.
4.Chest X-ray: exclude lung metastasis.
5.Liver and biliary ultrasound: exclude liver metastasis.
6.Gynecologic ultrasound: to understand the endometrial condition (TAM).
7.Blood routine, liver function biochemistry: to understand the toxic side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments.
8.Tumor index: to assess the efficacy and monitor whether metastasis.
Strategies to improve the survival of metastatic breast cancer patients Breast cancer recurrence and metastasis is now a top priority for many patients and their family members, and like other tumors cancer is a time bomb in many people’s mind, as if it can explode at any time if not well protected. Faced with the recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer, some breast cancer patients often have self-blame and self-hatred, and some women’s family members blindly or even excessively check and treat. Experts suggest: “In fact, breast cancer is not that scary, there is an eight-word ‘prescription’ for breast cancer recurrence and experts, which is ‘positive, optimistic, cooperative and harmonious’. We believe we can overcome the disease by treating breast cancer as a chronic disease with such a mindset.”
Survival strategies for breast cancer patients to prevent recurrence and metastasis
1. Manage breast cancer patients throughout the whole process. For HR-positive metastatic breast cancer, making it a chronic disease has become a reality. For HR-negative metastatic breast cancer, managing it as a chronic disease has gone from theory to practice. The essence of treating chronic disease is to improve symptoms and prolong survival.
2.Patients with breast cancer should pay attention to functional exercise. Due to the large scope of breast cancer surgery, the local skin, subcutaneous fat, blood, nerves, lymphatic vessels and muscles will be damaged in different procedures, which will affect the activities of the affected upper limbs and even develop a thoracic deformity. To prevent this, the most important thing is to perform functional exercise in time.
3.To avoid various factors that promote the recurrence of breast cancer: you should not smoke or drink alcohol, avoid using cosmetic products with high estrogen content, and try to avoid exposure to radioactive and electromagnetic radiation.
To prevent recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer, family members should make good arrangements according to the patient’s physical condition and response to treatment during the period of recuperation at home between breast cancer treatments. If the patient’s body is very weak after surgery and the toxic side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy are serious, the patient should mainly stay in bed and not rush to get up and move around.
Common ways to prevent recurrence of breast cancer after surgery
1.Post-operative chemotherapy must be adhered to: although patients with breast cancer undergo radical surgery, they still die from distant metastases. Post-operative chemotherapy is important to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer after surgery.
2. Contraceptive therapy: After breast cancer surgery, the body has not yet recovered to normal, so if you get pregnant, it will undoubtedly add to the misery and can make breast cancer recur or reoccur. In order to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer and improve the quality of survival, pregnancy should not be allowed within five years after breast cancer surgery.
3.Rational diet: After breast cancer surgery, it is advisable to eat more soy products, fresh vegetables and fruits, and avoid eating fried, smoked and pickled foods. To avoid smoking and alcohol. This is a more common method to effectively prevent breast cancer recurrence after surgery.
4.Spiritual sports therapy: to maintain emotional stability after breast cancer surgery, to face the reality, not to be depressed and nervous, to be good at rationalizing mental pressure and frustration, which is also beneficial to the prevention of breast cancer recurrence after surgery. Husbands and children should be considerate of patients. 2-3 months after breast cancer surgery, you can go for a walk, gradually increase from 15 minutes to 40 minutes, and also practice qigong, tai chi, expansion exercises and other gentle and soothing fitness methods.
5.Regular review: It is also a common method to effectively prevent breast cancer recurrence after surgery. Breast cancer recurrence occurs within two years after surgery, and about 10% of them occur within six months after surgery. The time of review: once a month within six months, once every two months from 6 to 12 months, once every three months from 1-2 years, and once every six months from 2 years or more. If hard nodes appear in the scar or in the armpit or clavicle, you should go to the hospital immediately.
Finally, to prevent breast cancer recurrence and metastasis, we need to establish a scientific lifestyle: actively participate in physical exercise, maintain an optimistic mood and a good state of mind, develop a scientific diet, eat less high-fat, smoked and barbecued foods, and eat more vegetables and fruits, etc.