Women who have been successfully cured of breast cancer could face the same thing again, a new study has shown.
In women whose tumor has spread to the lymph glands, there is the highest risk (40 percent) that the disease will return.
Researchers report that prolonging treatment with hormone therapy can reduce the risk of disease recurrence.
Scientists followed the condition of 63.000 women for 20 years. They all had the most common form of breast cancer. It is the type that triggers the hormone estrogen, which stimulates the growth of cancer cells.
Each patient receives estrogen-blocking therapies. Although they were cured after five years, for many the disease returned after 15 years, spreading throughout the body, and for some even 20 years after the diagnosis.
Women who had early surgery for a tumor that did not involve the lymph glands had a 10 percent risk of the disease returning, writes the BBC.
Research has shown that if the patient continues to receive hormone therapy for the next ten years, the chances of preventing the return of the disease and even death are high.
However, there are side effects when it comes to hormonal therapies, which can affect the patient's quality of life, and even cause osteoporosis, pain or carpal tunnel syndrome, reports B92.
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