Expert: Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. - 7/13/2004

Question
My wife had breast cancer at 46 yrs old that was 10 yrs ago, she had tubalur cancer in her breast which she had radiation for but later had her breast removed.She had tomoxifin for 5 yrs. and is in good shape now.My question is will the radiation she got affect her heart or anything else in her body? Is she considered cancer free and is her odds of getting cancer again  better then someone else her age because she had it once?

Answer
If the radiation has not affected her until now her risk of any radiation associated problems is very small. If her drs. consider her cancer free at present it only means that they have not found any symptoms or signs of cancer. It does not mean a guarantee, unfortunately. Neither for the present nor for the future. Actually with most tumours you can say that if the patient has survived 5 years after treatment the risk of the cancer coming back is VERY small. Not so with breast cancer. Though the risk goes down to some extent with time, the illness can come back after 30 years or more. So she will always have an elevated risk of the illness coming back. Furthermore as a patient who already has had a proved breast cancer, she has a somewhat increased risk (though still small) of developing a NEW breast cancer. I'm sorry I can not give you a nicer and better reply!