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Local recurrence - understanding terminology
Breast Cancer | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (17)Comment receiving replies
@windyshores Thank you, so post-mastectomy if the cancer recurs on the same side, to be a "local recurrence" it would between the skin and muscle? Its confusing to me because I was told a recurrence in the skin (anywhere on the body, including the post-mastectomy skin) is stage 4, but post mastectomy there really isn't much other than your skin over your muscle left. Perhap the difference then is if it came back IN the post-mastectomy skin (stage 4) vs just Under the post-mastectomy skin (but not in the muscle), which is "local" recurrence?
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@lilacs I have been told that "recurrence" in the breast area is "local" and not stage 4. I can speculate that testing could be done to determine the characteristics of the new cancer to ensure it is the same as the original cancer.
This explains it well. Treatment is similar to the original treatment according to this. Note that some sources don't distinguish between local and regional, and include lymph nodes in "local."
Maybe someone with a recurrence locally can tell us if it is tested to make sure it is a recurrence and not a new primary, since treatment might differ-?
https://www.komen.org/breast-cancer/treatment/recurrence/