How frequently should scans be done after treatment?

wifessupport

Hi,

I was wondering as to how frequently should CT scans etc. be done after treatment.  Is it once every 6 months, every year or only symptom based? My wife's oncologist says it is symptom based which is kind of scary.  Any input?

Thanks

Nettie1964

My oncologist says the same thing and yes it is scary!

I have not had any scans post treatment, but I have lots of painful symptoms, at this point the MO doesn't seemed concerned, but I certainly am.   I have an apt Feb 12, so we shall see what's on the horizon!

pupmom

I had them twice during my first year. Once the year after that, and am now on a prn basis. I had 2 positive nodes though. Don't know what your wife's stats are.

ziggypop

I have read that the general standard is no scans unless there are symptoms. There's a couple reasons as far as I can tell for this - the first is that scans are to catch metastasis - and there isn't (according to the literature) a survival benefit to 'catching' metastasis early. So for instance with BC, itself, a major focus is to catch it early while it it still confined to the breast (because cancer confined to the breast can't kill you). But, if for instance BC spreads to - say the liver - it very, very , very unlikely that it will be operable because it doesn't spread to just one place in the liver - it's a diffuse spread - so it will be treated the same way regardless of whether it's found on Sept 1 (when a scan is done) or Dec 1 (when symptoms are noted), and let's say the treatment 'works' for a year - then it will work until Sept 1 the next year or Dec 1 the next year. Oddly enough - the person who 'didn't' get the scans ends up not needing to switch to a new treatment until Dec. Also since there are a limited number of treatment options (think of them as arrows) and some can not be used again - it's better to not use them up when you're just using them to put the cancer in remission even though it's not having any effect on you. 

The second reason cited is that scans (some) add radiation to the body (and many of us have already been exposed to pretty high doses already) and they often lead to unnecessary invasive tests. 

Now, I can come up with some arguments for the opposite side - and some places do scans for the first 2 years following treatment for certain stages of cancer. I doubt though that you would find any cancer center that would do full body scans year after year indefinitely without some indication for doing them. 

DocBabs

I've no scans done either pre or postoperative . I did have an MRI done last summer 2 years post BMX  mainly to check the integrity of the implants. That , I'm told will be done every 3 years from now on.

AmyQ

I'm getting scans every three months for the first year then twice the next. My onc is very aggressive and proactive but my husband feels it's a waste of resources. For now I'm happy to follow the recommendations of my onc.

exbrnxgrl

Amy,

You and are stage IV, which puts us in a whole different league when it comes to scans. I suspect the op's wife may not be stage IV as this was posted in the moving beyond cancer forum. 

BTW, my single bone met was found by a PET done for reasons not related to bc. I had no symptoms. Food for thought.

Caryn