Question regarding IDC and recurrence

BC can come back as a local, regional, or distant recurrence 1 - many years out, but it depends greatly on your stage, grade, type of BC, and nodal status. Generally, lower stage, high ER + PR+ BC like yours is much less likely to recur than others. Still there is a risk and that extends beyond the 5 year "cured" date. Most of us accept that there is no guarantee of a "cure" with BC. But the majority of us lower stage gals will live our lives without facing a recurrence.

No, that is not true. It does not "generally" come back. There is always a risk that it may come back, and that risk is unfortunately constant and for your lifetime, as doxie said. However, the odds that it won't come back are greater than the odds that it will. Also, because the risk is lifelong, it could come back when you are 95. Finally, you can reduce your risk of recurrence by having proper treatment, exercising and maintaining a normal BMI. Are you getting anti-hormonals? If not, I would discuss that with the doc

I want to make sure there is no confusion here.

My comment is about early stage and in response to the poster asking "about IDC and that it generally comes back a few years later?" "A few years" is not 10 - 20 or more that most of us will live past our initial diagnosis, if not mets. I read "a few years" to be less than five and early stage bc like hers "generally" is highly unlikely to recur in that short time.

Besides, where is the data and sources that state "ER+ bc will ultimately recur...with recurrence confirmed only at autopsy?" I cannot believe that everyone who has ever had BC and dies of other causes has autopsies where they look to find if it has progressed.

I don't doubt that most of us have bc and/or other cancers that ebb and wane, most never being detected or causing problems when our bodies fight them off. Is this rolled into that statement?

The majority of early stage BCs do not come back in the early years. especially if they are ER/PR+ and HER2-. Triple negative can come back when diagnoses early but after five years, the chances go way down. Her2+ indicates an aggressive form of cancer, so it too can come back, even if very small. But with the exceptions of those two, the risks, as said previously, of not coming back are higher than those that it will. Death stalks all of us. We are all terminal. So enjoy now and let the future roll forward.