Getting breast cancer increases the risk of getting it again. Fortunately, the risk of recurrence is generally low for most breast cancer patients, and current treatments are designed to minimize that risk. To further improve your odds of staying cancer-free:
Stick with therapy. After surgery and perhaps chemotherapy and radiation, you may be placed on adjuvant therapy to help prevent recurrence. If you are premenopausal, your therapy may be tamoxifen; if you are postmenopausal, it may be one of the newer aromatase inhibitors. Continue the adjuvant therapy as long as your doctor advises, which may be up to five years. Studies on tamoxifen showed that women who used it for five years reduced their recurrence rate by 41 percent.
Keep up with screenings. After treatment, your doctors will recommend regular checkups and tests, possibly every three to six months. Keep up with your schedule for mammograms, MRIs or any other suggested tests. Tell your doctor about anything unusual you notice in your breasts. It may be scarring or nodules from your surgery, or it can be a sign of recurrence. If so, finding it early is key.
Pay attention to estrogen. If your tumor responds to estrogen (ER positive), you and your doctor will come up with a plan to protect you from estrogen, which is produced in the ovaries before menopause. If you are premenopausal, your adjuvant therapy will probably include tamoxifen, which acts against estrogen. You may also want to discuss whether you should consider shutting down your ovaries medically or by surgical removal (oophorectomy); this may bring on menopause. If you are entering menopause or have recently done so, be aware that women with ER positive tumors should not use hormone replacement therapy.
Maintain a healthy weight and diet. Fat cells produce estrogen, which affects breast tissue. Keeping your weight down can lessen this estrogen effect and keep your insulin levels under control, reducing your recurrence risk. Maintaining a healthy weight also reduces your risk of other cancers, heart disease and diabetes.
Exercise. Women with breast cancer who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of recurrence. In one study that used data from the large-scale Nurses’ Health Study, women who exercised more than 3 hours a week reduced their risk by 17 percent over women who exercised less. Exercise also benefits overall health and reduces risks of heart disease and diabetes, in addition to helping anxiety, depression and fatigue.
If you smoke, quit.
If you drink alcohol, practice moderation, meaning a drink a day or less for women. The links between breast cancer and alcohol have not been studied as closely as have some other cancers.
In addition to these changes, you may also find yourself working to improve your health in other ways. You may choose to eat more organic foods, or avoid using common household products that contain certain chemicals. Although these methods have not been proven to reduce risk, they may help you feel more in control of what goes into your body.
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