title: Is follow up of patients after surgery for breast cancer worthwhile?
abstract: The effectiveness of routine outpatient follow up in detecting recurrent disease after 'curative' surgery for breast cancer has been evaluated in a retrospective study of 148 patients. In all, 32 patients developed recurrent cancer. In 3 cases, asymptomatic disease was discovered by routine X-rays. In 25 cases, the patient noticed local disease or complained of symptoms due to distant spread, and over half of these returned to the clinic before the next routine appointment. In only 4 cases was routine examination by a doctor solely responsible for the discovery of recurrent disease. It is concluded that routine follow up made little contribution to the welfare of these patients.
mesh_terms: D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D008593:Menopause; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies