How long from treatment does metastases or recurrence show up

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LJDH
LJDH Member Posts: 37
edited September 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

Just wondering how soon after treatment can metastases or recurrence show up? 

  Two months after surgery my onc said nothing would show up that soon.

Just curious how long can it take for something to metastasize?

 

Thank you!

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2014

    As far as I know, there is no time frame, either on the short or long end. If mets are discovered 2 months after initial tx, they may have been there, undetected, all along. What are you, specifically, worried about?

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  • LJDH
    LJDH Member Posts: 37
    edited August 2014

    Just wondering what a general time frame was so

    that I could celebrate when it is over LOL!!

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2014

    LJDH,

    Sadly, there is no general timeframe. People recur after months, years and even decades, but some never do. My best advice is to finish your tx, lead a healthy lifestyle, have fun and joy and celebrate every day of your life. Don't spend too much time worrying about things which haven't happened yet and might not ever happen. I'm already stage IV, but that's exactly what I do!

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  • wrenn
    wrenn Member Posts: 2,707
    edited August 2014

    i'm wishing for the same magic wand these days. My BMX was a year ago today and i was only able to do one chemo treatment so i have sort of been keeping an eye out for the beast. I recently had an ultrasound for post menopausal bleeding and my uterine lining is 13 mm so i am seeing a surgeon this week for information on what comes next.

    I am also extremely dizzy and nauseous and keep losing my balance which i attributed it to nerves but anti anxiety meds didn't make a difference.

    I am honestly more afraid of scans (claustrophobia) than diagnosis.

    Does this fear ever end? I want a timeline....exact date even better.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2014

    wrenn,

    First of all I hope your symptoms are one of many benign little things. As for scans, the PET scanner at my facility is a very short tube, and you are lying on a bed that moves as the scan progresses. It much, much better than am MRI and quiet! Take good care of yourself.

    Caryn

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  • wrenn
    wrenn Member Posts: 2,707
    edited August 2014

    thanks exbrnxgrl, most days i feel "cured" and then i get fuzzy headache and dizziness and i think brain mets and cramping means cancer. It is so hard to get a rational perspective on this stuff some days.

    Glad to be able to come here. I don't dare let friends and family how crazy i am feeling. :)

    I understand why the OP needed to ask.

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  • CarolynVM
    CarolynVM Member Posts: 137
    edited August 2014

     Some doctors used to say five years meant we were "cured."  One of my friends celebrated her five year cancer free date so she was keenly aware she was in a window of uncertainty for five years.  Another friend told me she considered herself "cured" when her hair started to grow back.  She was free of worry right away.  I'd opt for believing in health just as I had before I was diagnosed with cancer.  I'm just as vigilant as I was then and I will get my exams and do what I should do but I certainly haven't been dwelling on fear of recurrence. 

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  • Jujube43
    Jujube43 Member Posts: 178
    edited August 2014

    Recurrence or metastasis is different for everyone. I have heard of some who went for many years without having either. My personl experience is different. I had 5 months of chemo, unilateral mastectomy and 35 rads which ended on May 9th. I was diagnosed with a recurrence on July 11. As I said we are all different and there is no way to predict.

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited August 2014

    There is no real timeframe. My doc considers the 2-year mark significant. The idea being that if you do not have mets by then, then the original DX was correct and the treatment worked as intended.

    The 5-year mark means little in the context of breast cancer. The concept is called "conditional survival," but the basic idea is that the risk of having a recurrence stays steadily the same no matter how many years you have so far survived after a breast cancer DX. There are many other cancers where you can consider it "over" once 5 years have passed. Unfortunately BC is not one of them. 

    In this study on Conditional Survival they found that survival only improves relative to time survived already for stage 4 women, and to some very small degree for stage 3, but remains flat for stages 1 and 2.

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  • Sarahlou50
    Sarahlou50 Member Posts: 33
    edited August 2014

    Thank you for mentioning Conditional Survival. I did not know what it meant, but have just googled it and have learnt something new!! I initially thought surviving 5 years was a huge milestone, but then discovered that in my particular case the first 2 years was significant, as you point out.  When I asked me oncologist all those years ago what my chances were he said he could only comment on the next 5 years, then paused and said 50/50.  

    Having just seen a consultant after many years I did ask him if he could give me some idea of my chances now.  He couldn't be too specific but said I had reached a point where I am at the same risk as any other woman of having breast cancer (about 12%).   However, I am not sure if what he told was was correct.....

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited August 2014

    I was dx as stage I. As they say on television commercials, "results may vary."  But even though it's my understanding that there is no absolute time limit to the possibility of mets, when my oncologist released me after five years of Tamoxifen & Aromasin treatment - she said "You are, for all intents and purposes, cured." I'm now 9.5 years NED.

    Don't wait to celebrate. Celebrate every day. Best to ya.

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  • DiveCat
    DiveCat Member Posts: 968
    edited August 2014

    Unfortunately, as these boards prove, someone can be diagnosed with mets within months after their original diagnosis (and yes, it was probably always there just not detected, my grandmother was one of these after her second primary diagnosis) or years later. My mother's mets were found 8 years after original dx with Stage III, while she was still on an AI.

    This xkcd comic is one of the best graphic explanations I have seen to explain recurrence/survival, though even it limits to 5-10 years.

    image

    There are 13 lanes for each stage 1 through 4. 

    The writer for xkcd's young fiancée (now wife) was diagnosed with Stage III BC in 2011 and he has written a few comics as a response.  I like this one :):

    image

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  • MusicLover
    MusicLover Member Posts: 4,225
    edited August 2014

    A friend of mine had a recurrence after 28 years, crazy right?  But I think she thoroughly enjoyed those 28years, she thought about cancer, how can you not? Back when she was diagnosed then didn't scan to check afterwards at least that is what happened with her (she also had no chemo with dx), she had pain went to the dr and they found bone mets.  Her attitude is unbelievable, she has been stage IV for around 8 years and just keeps going.

    (I hate this crappy disease!  I read an early stager's comment recently in which she stated "It takes away your peace" and a bit more than that).

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2014

    divecat,

    I've seen the second cartoon (Petri dish) and love it. It makes me think that before I get too hopeful over cures in a Petri dish, there's a long way to go before proving efficacy in humans.

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  • Meow13
    Meow13 Member Posts: 4,859
    edited August 2014

    My onco says I dont have cancer it is gone when I ask if there are any new drugs for me

    I guess the only prevention drug is the hormone therapy for me the AI drugs.

    I prefer to think I am doing what I can to prevent reoccurance for where I am now 3 years out.

    I would be happy with 20 years disease free and it sounds like that is a very likely scenario for me.

    It is ok to think the cancer is gone why not the odds are with you.

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  • Alloway
    Alloway Member Posts: 32
    edited August 2014

    I strongly dislike the use of the word "cured". How can you be cured of an illness when it has the potential to come back? 

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  • Bren58
    Bren58 Member Posts: 1,048
    edited August 2014

    I had DCIS in 2000, had a BMX and was basically told to go have a nice life :) Fast forward to 2012 and I was diagnosed with IDC.  No, there is no time frame for recurrence. In those 12 years I knew a recurrence was possible but didn't spend much time dwelling on it. I also know another recurrence is possible as this disease is no respecter of persons.

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  • Curlylocks
    Curlylocks Member Posts: 1,060
    edited September 2014

    I was diagnosed with my first bc in Oct 2005 at age 41.  I had a left breast lumpectomy, radiation,chemo, ovaries removed at age 44, was on Armidex for 5 years.  I celebrated 8 years of being cancer free in Oct 2013.  I had what was suppose to be a prophylactic bilateral masectomy with DIEP reconstruction in Dec 2013 due to high risk family history.  The pathology from that surgery found a new Primary bc in the same breast as the first bc. This time it is Triple Negative, stage 1.  Thankfully no spread elsewhere:)

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2014

    The bottom line is that there are no "timeframes" from original dx to mets. Mets can be discovered at original dx, after initial tax or years later.  I hope for the best for everyone!

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  • LJDH
    LJDH Member Posts: 37
    edited September 2014


    Just starting reading "Dancing in Limbo" written by 2 women who survived

    different types of cancer.  It is a good book, articulates a lot of what we all have been discussing here.

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