1 year after breast cancer treatment, period for two months why

Will my periods return after breast cancer treatment?

It’s difficult to say whether someone’s periods will return after breast cancer treatment and this can be upsetting and unsettling for those affected. Not being able to have a definitive answer means those women who want to have children, or who are undecided, may only have the option to wait and see.

Can breast cancer come back after 5 years?

The "late recurrence" or relapse of breast cancer refers to cancers that come back after five years, but may not return for 10 years, 20 years, or even more. For people who have estrogen receptor-positive tumors, the cancer is actually more likely to recur after five years than in the first five years. Lisa Fought Breast Cancer for 8 Years.

How often does breast cancer recur after treatment?

However, recurrence can happen even many years after treatment, which is why it’s important to be breast and body aware, and report any changes to your treatment team or GP. In the UK, the number of people surviving breast cancer has risen greatly over the past decade and most people diagnosed with primary breast cancer will not have a recurrence.

Is breast cancer treatable at early stages?

Breast cancer detected at early stages (0–1) is very treatable. At later stages, breast cancer treatment is more aggressive, as it aims to destroy the cancer and prevent further growth to reduce the risk of recurrence.

How long does breast cancer treatment last?

Why aren't breast cancer tests included in follow up?

Why do you need a pelvic exam after breast cancer surgery?

What happens if cancer comes back?

How long after cancer treatment do side effects show?

What does a doctor look for in a woman with cancer?

Is breast cancer a risk factor for cervical cancer?

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How long does it take to get back to normal after breast cancer?

Two of the most common questions women ask after breast cancer treatment ends is typically, “when will my life be normal again?” and “am I cured?” If a woman has undergone chemotherapy it is not uncommon for it to take upwards of one year before she is feeling back to normal with improved overall endurance and strength ...

Can breast cancer come back after 3 months?

Over time, these cells can grow, causing breast cancer recurrence. Breast cancer can come back months or years later.

Why does breast cancer keep coming back?

Recurrent breast cancer occurs when cells that were part of your original breast cancer break away from the original tumor and hide nearby in the breast or in another part of your body. Later, these cells begin growing again.

What happens when you get breast cancer for the second time?

After breast cancer was diagnosed a second time, the women's chances of survival were 27% to 47% higher if the second breast cancer was small and had no symptoms when diagnosed, compared to second breast cancers that caused symptoms such as a lump, a skin change, or nipple discharge.

What are the signs of cancer coming back?

Warning signs of a distant recurrence tend to involve a different body part from the original cancer site. For example, if cancer recurs in the lungs, you might experience coughing and difficulty breathing, while a recurrence of cancer in the brain can cause seizures and headaches.

Which type of breast cancer is most likely to recur?

Research suggests that estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer is more likely to come back more than five years after diagnosis. In this study, the researchers looked at the risk of late breast cancer recurrence, meaning the breast cancer came back 10 or more years after diagnosis.

Can stress cause breast cancer to return?

They have found no evidence that those who are more stressed are more likely to get cancer. Some people wonder whether stress causes breast cancer. But overall, the evidence for this has been poor. And a large study of over 100,000 women in the UK in 2016 showed no consistent evidence between stress and breast cancer.

What are the chances of getting cancer again after breast cancer?

For women who have lumpectomy plus radiation therapy, the chance of a local breast cancer recurrence in 10 years is about 3-15 percent [165-166]. The risk of local recurrence depends on tumor characteristics, including biomarkers (such as hormone receptor status and HER2 status).

What is the most common secondary cancer after breast cancer?

The most common second cancer in breast cancer survivors is another breast cancer. (This is different from the first cancer coming back.) The new cancer can develop in the opposite breast, or in the same breast for women who were treated with breast-conserving surgery (such as a lumpectomy).

What are the chances of getting breast cancer a second time?

The risk of developing a second breast cancer on the opposite breast for patients who test positive for the BRCA mutation is approximately 3% per year, or 60% in 20 years, and many of these women do opt for preventive mastectomy.

What are the signs that breast cancer has spread?

Symptoms if cancer has spread to the lungsa cough that doesn't go away.shortness of breath.ongoing chest infections.weight loss.chest pain.coughing up blood.a build up of fluid between the chest wall and the lung (a pleural effusion)

When are you considered cancer free after breast cancer?

The cancer may come back to the same place as the original primary tumor or to another place in the body. If you remain in complete remission for five years or more, some doctors may say that you are cured, or cancer-free.

Follow-Up Care Guidelines: Johns Hopkins Breast Center

While actively undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation, you will make regular visits to various cancer specialists according to the types of medical care you are receiving at that time.The frequency of these visits will reduce after active treatment is complete. Gradually, you may see your surgeon and possibly your radiation oncologist less frequently.

Life After Cancer Treatment

iii “While I was having chemo, I quit doing almost everything. So when treatment ended, the challenge for me was, what am I going to do now with my life?

Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment - Mayo Clinic

Your cancer treatment is over, but the treatments that may have saved your life may also continue to cause side effects. As more people are living longer after cancer treatment, more is becoming known about late side effects of cancer treatment.

Follow-up after breast cancer treatment - Macmillan Cancer Support

You will have yearly mammograms, but it is still a good idea to know what is now normal for you. Your treated breast will look and feel different, depending on the treatment you have had.. Your breast care nurse can tell you what you should expect and what to look out for.

Second Cancers: Developing a New Cancer after Breast Cancer

Breast cancer survivors can be affected by a number of health problems, but often a major concern is facing cancer again. If this happens, it’s most often the result of the breast cancer coming back after treatment.

How long does it take for a woman to get her period back after chemo?

Most women will start their periods again within three months to a year of having their last goserelin injection.

Can you get pregnant if your period is absent?

However, this isn’t necessarily the case. The reverse is also true, just because periods are absent or stop/start doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant, so contraception will be important unless you’re planning for a baby.

Does chemotherapy cause periods?

Changes caused by chemotherapy. Chemotherapy causes changes to the ovaries which may lead to changes to periods. Although chemotherapy destroys cancer cells it can also affect any cells that grow and divide rapidly – this includes cells in the ovaries.

Will my period return after breast cancer?

It’s difficult to say whether someone’s periods will return after breast cancer treatment and this can be upsetting and unsettling for those affected. Not being able to have a definitive answer means those women who want to have children, or who are undecided, may only have the option to wait and see.

Can you stop your period during chemo?

What happens to a woman’s periods during chemotherapy depends on the type of drugs used, the dose given and the age of the woman having treatment. Some women continue to have periods throughout treatment but it’s common for periods to stop during chemotherapy and this can be temporary or permanent.

Does hormone therapy affect periods?

Changes caused by hormone therapy. The hormone oestrogen can play a part in stimulating some breast cancers to grow and hormone therapy is used to block the effect of oestrogen on cancer cells. Hormone therapy also effects periods and can make them lighter, irregular or stop all together. Once hormone therapy is completed periods should return, ...

How long does breast cancer treatment last?

After a marathon of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment that may last six months to a year, you can hardly wait to get back to a normal life again.

What does it mean to return to your normal after breast cancer?

Here's how to return to your "new normal.". Life after breast cancer means returning to some familiar things and also making some new choices. The song says "It ain't over 'til it's over," but when you've had breast cancer, you discover that it's not even over when it's over.

What are the challenges women face after breast cancer treatment?

Two of the biggest hurdles women with breast cancer face post-treatment are fatigue resulting from chemotherapy and/or the accumulated effects of other treatments, and a phenomenon some women have dubbed "chemobrain" -- mental changes such as memory deficits and the inability to focus.

How does breast cancer affect your life?

From your relationships with your family and your spouse to eating habits and exercise, breast cancer will change your life in ways that last well after treatment ends.

Is breast cancer a marathon?

It can feel like an endless process.". Breast cancer survivorship, Weiss observes, is a marathon, not a sprint. That means learning to handle the symptoms that stick around after treatment ends, says Sloan-Kettering's McCabe, by using those adaptive strategies you learned while on chemotherapy or recovering from surgery.

Can breast cancer survivors survive?

Women with breast cancer, like other people with a cancer diagnosis, are now surviving for so much longer, and in such large numbers, that some hospitals are opening entire departments devoted to survivorship The National Cancer Institute has also launched a special research area dedicated to studying what it means to survive cancer. Â.

How many women had lumpectomy after breast cancer surgery?

To see if any specific factors were linked to continuing pain after surgery, the researchers looked at the medical records of 860 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer who had surgery to remove the cancer: 54% of the women took hormonal therapy before surgery. 62% of the women had lumpectomy. 38% of the women had mastectomy.

How much pain did breast cancer patients have before surgery?

The results showed that: 24% of the women had pain problems before surgery, including pain from fibromyalgia and low back pain. This means that about 66% of the women had mild to severe pain 1 year after breast cancer surgery. The researchers found that certain factors were linked to continuing pain after surgery:

What are the factors that contribute to pain after breast cancer surgery?

The researchers found that certain factors were linked to continuing pain after surgery: preoperative pain problems . preoperative pain in the area where breast cancer surgery would take place. preoperative depression. axillary lymph node dissection. radiation therapy after surgery. chemotherapy after surgery.

Why does chemotherapy hurt after breast surgery?

There are a number of reasons why someone might have continuing pain after surgery, including unavoidable tissue and nerve damage when the cancer and any lymph nodes are removed.

How many women took hormone therapy before surgery?

54% of the women took hormonal therapy before surgery. 48% of the women had axillary lymph node dissection. 73% of the women had radiation therapy after surgery. 68% of the women took hormonal therapy after surgery; about half the women took tamoxifen and about half took an aromatase inhibitor.

How many women are older than 50 after surgery?

75% of the women were older than 50. about 7% of the women were suffering from depression. A year after surgery, the researchers sent the women a survey on pain, asking about pain both before and 1 year after surgery, as well as its severity. The results showed that:

Can breast cancer cause swelling in the arm?

Lymphedema, a swelling of the arm, hand, or chest wall caused by a build-up of lymph fluid in those tissues after breast cancer surgery, also can be painful. But you don't have to suffer. With proper treatment, most people can get relief from most, if not all, of their pain.

How long does it take to live with breast cancer?

Although it is difficult to assess the progress of cancer over the course of 1 year, the American Cancer Society provide estimates about the 5-year survival rates for people at different stages of breast cancer.

What is the survival rate for breast cancer?

The 5-year survival rate refers to the number of people who will live for 5 years after finding out that they have breast cancer: close to 100 percent for stages 0 and 1. 93 percent for stage 2. 72 percent for stage 3. 22 percent for stage 4. These figures are population estimates.

How does metastasis occur?

Metastasis occurs when breast cancer cells begin to grow in another body part. It is hard to say exactly how quickly breast cancer can grow, including the timeframe, as the disease affects each person differently. Cancer occurs due to mutations in human cells.

How many cells do breast cancer cells divide into?

One cell divides to become two cells, then each of those cells divides to become four cells, and so on. The uncontrolled multiplication of cancer cells creates tumors within the breast tissue. The speed at which a cancer progresses depends on the growth rate of the cancer cells.

What does it mean to have a higher grade of breast cancer?

Grade (1–3) A doctor will grade breast cancer (1–3) based on how much the cancer cells look like normal breast cells: A higher grade means that a cancer is more likely to grow faster and to spread to other areas of the breast or body.

Why do cancer cells have mutations?

Cancer occurs due to mutations in human cells. Mutations do not follow normal, predictable patterns of cell division, so it is difficult to predict the progression. Tumors appear when damaged cells replicate over and over to form a clump of abnormal cells.

What type of cancer grows at a fast rate?

The researchers reported that certain types of breast cancer, such as triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-positive breast cancer, grew at fast rates.

How long does it take for breast cancer to come back?

It is these tumors that are more likely (more than 50%) to come back after five years than during the first five years after diagnosis, although some triple-negative tumors pose risk as well.

How long can you live after breast cancer?

In contrast to the common belief that surviving for five years after cancer treatment is equivalent to a cure, with hormone-sensitive (estrogen and/or progesterone receptor-positive) breast tumors there is a steady rate of recurrence risk for at least 20 years after the original diagnosis, even with very small node-negative tumors.

How long does it take for estrogen receptor positive breast cancer to recur?

The constant rate of recurrence means that the risk that an estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer will recur between 15 years and 16 years post-diagnosis is the same as the risk that it will recur between five years and six years after diagnosis.

What are the risk factors for recurrence?

There are several risk factors that raise the risk of recurrence overall (combining both early and late recurrences). These include: 1 Tumor size: Larger tumors are more likely to recur than smaller ones both early and late. 2 Positive lymph nodes: Tumors that have spread to lymph nodes are more likely to recur at any time than those that have not. 3 Age at diagnosis: Breast cancer recurrence is more common in younger people. 4 Treatments received and response to treatments: Both chemotherapy and hormonal therapy (tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors) reduce the risk of recurrence in the first five years. 5 Tumor grade: More aggressive tumors (grade 3) are more likely to recur than less aggressive tumors (for example, grade 1), especially in the first five years

Why is it important to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence?

For people who have estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers (and some triple-negative tumors), reducing the risk of late recurrence is critical in order to reduce deaths from the disease.

How many breast cancers are recurrences?

A recurrence of breast cancer at any time can be devastating. While 6% to 10% of breast tumors are diagnosed when the disease is already metastatic (stage 4), 90% to 94% of metastatic breast cancers represent a distant recurrence of previous early-stage breast cancer (cancer that was originally stage I, stage II, or stage III).

How many subtypes of breast cancer are there?

Researchers recently developed a model to identify 11 integrative subtypes of breast cancer with different risks and timing of recurrence, according to the findings of a 2019 study published online in Nature.

What changes to the breast after mastectomy?

After breast-conserving surgery or a mastectomy, with or without reconstruction, be aware of any changes to either side, such as: swelling on your chest, in your armpit or around your collarbone. a change in shape or size. a change in skin texture, such as puckering or dimpling.

What are the symptoms of secondary breast cancer?

severe or ongoing headaches. a dry cough or feeling of breathlessness. feeling much more tired than usual. pain in your bones, for example in the back, hips or ribs, that doesn’t get better with pain relief and may be worse at night. Find out more about the symptoms of secondary breast cancer. Click the image below for a downloadable infographic ...

How does a scar feel after breast surgery?

After treatments such as surgery and radiotherapy, you may experience pain and sensations such as burning and numbness in the scar area and under the arm.

What are the factors that affect the risk of breast cancer recurrence?

Each person’s risk of breast cancer recurrence is different and depends on many factors, such as the size, type, grade and features of the cancer and whether the lymph nodes were affected.

What does it mean when your nipple is inverted?

the nipple has become inverted (pulled in) or looks different, for example changed its position or shape. swelling in the arm or hand. a lump or thickening that feels different (with your treated breast this could be on or away from the scar line)

What to do after discharge from follow up appointment?

After you have been discharged from your follow-up appointments, your GP may be your main contact to get concerns checked quickly. When speaking to your GP, make sure they know about your breast cancer, particularly if you were diagnosed some time ago. If necessary your GP can refer you back to your treatment team.

Can breast cancer recur after treatment?

However, recurrence can happen even many years after treatment, which is why it’s important to be breast and body aware, and report any changes to your treatment team or GP.

How long can you delay breast cancer?

Delaying for a lengthy period of time can be dangerous, with studies finding that those who delay over six months are twice as likely to die from the disease. This is important to keep in mind for those who have breast lumps they are "observing" without a clear diagnosis. Any breast lump needs to be explained.

How soon after a diagnosis can you have surgery?

For women who are young (defined as 15 to 39), a 2013 study in JAMA Surgery suggested that young women should have surgery no more than six weeks after diagnosis and preferably earlier. This study of close to 9,000 women found 5-year survival rates as follows: 4 

Can a mastectomie be done for breast cancer?

Newer procedures such as nipple-sparing/skin-sparing mastectomies are a great option for some women, but not all surgeons do these procedures. For young women with breast cancer, time to see a fertility specialist to talk about fertility preservation.

Does triple negative HER2 increase stage?

As noted, tumors that were triple negative or HER2 positive grew much faster. This was also linked to an increase in stage based on size between diagnosis and surgery, with 18 percent of triple-negative tumors increasing (higher tumor size) versus only 2 to 3 percent of estrogen receptor positive tumors changing.

How long does breast cancer treatment last?

Almost any cancer treatment can have side effects. Some might only last for a few days or weeks, but others might last a long time.

Why aren't breast cancer tests included in follow up?

Other tests: Other tests such as blood tests and imaging tests (like bone scans and chest x-rays) are not a standard part of follow-up because they haven’t been shown to help a woman who's been treated for breast cancer live longer.

Why do you need a pelvic exam after breast cancer surgery?

Pelvic exams: If you are taking either of the hormone drugs tamoxifen or toremifene and still have your uterus, you should have pelvic exams every year because these drugs can increase your risk of uterine cancer.

What happens if cancer comes back?

If cancer does return, your treatment options will depend on where it comes back, what treatments you've had before, and your current health and preferences. For more information on how recurrent cancer is treated, see Treatment of Recurrent Breast Cancer .

How long after cancer treatment do side effects show?

Some side effects might not even show up until years after you have finished treatment. Visits with your doctor are a good time for you to ask questions and talk about any changes or problems you notice or concerns you have. However, if you have additional concerns about your cancer, you do not have to wait until your next scheduled visit.

What does a doctor look for in a woman with cancer?

If the cancer recurrence is confirmed, your doctor may also look for circulating tumor cells in the blood, or measure levels of blood tumor markers such as CA-15-3, CA 27-29, or CEA. The blood levels of tumor markers go up in some women if their cancer recurs or has spread to other parts of the body.

Is breast cancer a risk factor for cervical cancer?

In fact, women who have had breast cancer are at higher risk for certain other cancers. Because of this, it’s important to follow the American Cancer Society guidelines for the early detection of cancer, such as those for colorectal cancer and cervical cancer.

Changes Caused by Chemotherapy

Changes Caused by Hormone Therapy

• The hormone oestrogen can play a part in stimulating some breast cancers to grow and hormone therapy is used to block the effect of oestrogen on cancer cells. Hormone therapyalso effects periods and can make them lighter, irregular or stop all together. Once hormone therapy is completed periods should return, unless the natural menopause has begun ...

See more on breastcancernow.org

A Time of Uncertainty

Other Side Effects