Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer among women. It can occur in men as well, but not that frequently and it’s one of the most frightening forms of cancer for most women, even though the survivability rate continues to increase with early detection.

Given the choice, many women would prefer to give up their womb in a hysterectomy than they would to give up a breast in a mastectomy. Although losing a womb leaves a woman unable to have any more children, it’s internal and doesn’t show, in addition to the fact that she can continue to have marital sexual relations afterward. Losing a breast is more external and not only affects the outward physical appearance. For many women, their breasts are the main feature of their femininity. Losing a breast often leaves a woman feeling like she is less of a woman than before and no longer as attractive to her spouse or others.

As more women get tested earlier, signs of breast cancer are found quicker and if caught early enough, can be treated with a lumpectomy or just a combination of radiation and chemotherapy, thus saving the breast.

More and more women are also getting genetically tested to see if they carry the genes associated with breast cancer. Sadly, some women who find out they do carry the genes associated with breast cancer opt to have their breast removed before any signs of cancer are detected. They believe the preventative measure is worth reducing the risk.

Generally, when someone speaks about the survivability rate for any cancer, it is usually based on the percentage of people who are still living 5-years after being diagnosed with the cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, the relative survival rates for breast cancer depends on what stage the cancer is when detected:

• The 5-year relative survival rate for women with stage 0 or stage I breast cancer is close to 100%.
• For women with stage II breast cancer, the 5-year relative survival rate is about 93%.
• The 5-year relative survival rate for stage III breast cancers is about 72%. But often, women with these breast cancers can be successfully treated.
• Breast cancers that have spread to other parts of the body are more difficult to treat and tend to have a poorer outlook. Metastatic, or stage IV breast cancers, have a 5-year relative survival rate of about 22%. Still, there are often many treatment options available for women with this stage of breast cancer.

These rates are based on figures from people diagnosed from 2007 to 2013.

However, there is a new statistic that is causing some alarm among breast cancer survivors:

“Women treated for early stage breast cancer still face a substantial risk of recurrence up to 20 years later, a large, new study shows…”

“Specifically, the researchers followed women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, which means the hormone helps fuel the cancer’s growth. Standard treatment includes hormonal therapy — with drugs that block estrogen’s effects — to help prevent a return of the cancer.”

“All of the women in the study, nearly 63,000, were scheduled to receive the typical five years of hormonal therapy.”

“Researchers found that while the women remained cancer-free for those five years, the risk for recurrence over the next 15 years was still significant.”

“It was greatest for women whose initial cancer had spread to multiple lymph nodes near the breast by the time it was diagnosed. Their odds of eventually having a distant recurrence — meaning the cancer spread to such tissue as the bones, liver or lungs — were as high as 41 percent.”

I don’t mean to scare any of our lady readers, but want them to be aware of the risk of recurrence as much as 20-years later, which emphasizes the need for regular testing and monitoring, even 2 decades later. Getting complacent after a decade could be dangerous.