How soon can a recurrence occur?

It could be a recurrence or it could be a totally different cancer. Is it in the breast area? Most recurrences go to bones, lungs, liver, brain, etc.

After a breast cancer diagnosis, we all face the risk of two different types of recurrences. Distant recurrence, i.e. a metastatic recurrence, occurs beyond the breast, in the bones or liver, etc., as Dorothy noted.

Local recurrences happen within the breast (for those who had a lumpectomy) or breast area (for those who had a mastectomy). If a few cancer cells are left behind after surgery, and if radiation and hormone therapy don't kill them off, then a local recurrence will develop. Rads and hormone therapy are very effective at reducing the risk of a local recurrence, but neither treatment is 100% effective, so some risk always remains. The risk may be greater if the surgical margins were close, if the area of cancer was large and if the cancer was high grade. To my understanding, the peak years for local recurrences are years 2 - 5 post-surgically. 18 months is a bit shorter time, but not by much. So no, it is not too soon for a recurrence.

That said, surgery and radiation can cause fat necrosis and changes to the breast that might look suspicious on a mammogram. Hopefully that's the case for you, and this turns out to be a false alarm.

Good luck with the biopsy; hoping for benign results. Let us know how it goes.

Jeffries, I am in a same boat. . I had cancer on my left breast but did a bilateral mastectomy, chemo, radiation...I noticed a lump during radiation and all the doctors brushed it off as being the expander. 7/23/19 I had the exchange surgery and the lump is still there. Now the plastic surgeon and radiation oncologist wants me to go see the breast surgeon. I see her Friday. I am praying that it’s just a fat necrosis as well. Praying for both of us🙏

Hoping it is benign. My recurrence was 14 months after the conclusion of chemo for my stage 1 tumor.