What are the types of breast cancer recurrence?

What are the types of breast cancer recurrence?

If you develop cancer in the opposite, untreated breast (but not anywhere else in the body), you receive a new breast cancer diagnosis. This isn’t the same as breast cancer recurrence.

When breast cancer returns, it may be:

• Local: Cancer returns in the same breast or chest area as the original tumor.
• Regional: Cancer comes back near the original tumor, in lymph nodes in the armpit (axillary lymph nodes) or collarbone area.
• Distant: Breast cancer spreads away from the original tumor to the lungs, bones, brain or other parts of the body. This is metastatic cancer, often referred to as stage 4 breast cancer.