Do late relapses in triple negative women happen

This is the conclusion of research done here in Toronto: "...This pattern is characterized by a rapidly rising rate in the first 2 years following diagnosis, a peak at 2 to 3 years followed by a decline in recurrence risk over the next 5 years, and a very low risk of recurrence thereafter. Unlike women with other types of breast cancers, the great majority of women with triple-negative cancers who had no evidence of progression after 8 years did not recur thereafter."

The full study is here:  http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/13/15/4429.full#T1

Don't get hung up on the absolute numbers - the research is a bit dated now, but the patterns of recurrence are interesting.   

I am trying to find the newer data, but the eight year mark is not considered the benchmark anymore.   There is a higher rate of recurrence in the first 2 to 3 years; at three years, the rate starts to decline quite nicely, and this trend continues to five years wherein the rate drops again.  After five years it is rare to have recurrence; it happens, but rarely.

Lisa: I'm sorry if anything I posted made you feel that way. Getting a TN diagnosis is pretty devastating at first. But the vast majority of TNs are effectively treated and go on living their lives. This is not a death sentence by any means... and there are hundreds of women on these boards who are living proof of that. You asked specifically about patterns of recurrence, and I think we tried our best to give you the facts. 

You might also want to go to http://hormonenegative.blogspot.ca/ which has tons of great information on "the positives about triple negative" and the www.tnbcfoundation.org for more information and a forum. Did you know, for example, that a  healthy low-fat diet and exercise has been known to reduce recurrence risk by 40% or more? For me, that means I have the power to cut my odds of recurrence from about 30% (based on my own stats) to about 18%! Pretty good and I'll take it.

If your feelings of hopelessness persist, I agree with mebmarj, you may want to explore counselling so you can feel empowered to support your mother.  Good wishes to you both. 

Hi - I was told that if I made it past my five years that I could consider myself safe from a relapse. The first time was in 1999 when I was 53. I was just diagnosed with TN in the other breast after 13 years. Like so many others, I have no history of any kind of cancer on either side of my family going back for generations (and people in my family live long lives, so it's not like they all died before they could be diagnosed).

Actually, I have a theory about one of the triggers in the onset of my two cases of TN bc, which I'm getting ready to post. But, like ALS (which my son died of 4 years ago), I think it's going to be a different set of triggers for everyone. I do think that, again like ALS, TN bc is on the increase because of environmental issues and personal habits that weren't around 50 years ago.