title: Breast cancer posttreatment surveillance: diagnosis and management of recurrent disease.
abstract: Invasive breast cancer is the most common malignancy diagnosed in American women. The use of screening mammography and progress in adjuvant therapy has led to a steady decline in breast cancer mortality, and as the number of breast cancer survivors increases, there has been a marked increase in the number of patients enrolled in posttreatment surveillance programs.The majority of breast cancer recurrences occurs during the first decade after initial diagnosis with a peak incidence 2 to 5 years after diagnosis, although the number of recurrences for endocrine responsive cancer continues to rise afterward. The goal of posttreatment follow-up programs in patients with breast cancer is to detect potentially curable locoregional recurrences, second primary tumors, and the detection of systemic relapses. However, contrary to the long-held belief, most recurrences are symptomatic and occur during the interval between scheduled visits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UCLA School of Medicine, The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA. amerkaram@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Amer K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Karam
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D010808:Physical Examination; D013997:Time Factors; D057832:Watchful Waiting