One of the most common fears in people with cancer is that it might come back. When the cancer comes back, it is called a relapse. Cancer may return to the same place or to a completely different area of your body. No one likes to think about the possibility of getting cancer again, but it's important to be aware of relapses so you can get on with your life despite the uncertainty.
Why is cancer coming back?
Cancer may return if some of the cancer cells remain after
treatment. This does not mean that your medical team did something wrong.
Sometimes these cancer cells cannot be detected with tests. But over time, they
become large enough to be detected. Sometimes cancer grows in the same area,
but it can also spread to other parts of your body.
There are three types of relapse:
Local relapse. This happens when cancer returns to the
same place.
Regional relapse. This means that cancer has grown into
tissues or lymph nodes around the original area of cancer.
Distant relapses. This occurs when cancer has spread to an
area far from the original location of cancer. When this happens,
healthcare professionals say cancer has metastasized.
Realize your risk
The risk of cancer recurrence is different for each person.
Your individual risks depend on many factors:
The type of cancer you have had
The stage of cancer (if there is one and where it spread
when you first got treatment)
The degree of your cancer (how abnormal tumor cells and
tissues look under a microscope)
Your treatment
The time period since your treatment. In general, your risks
are lower the longer it has been since the last treatment.
For more information on your own risk, contact your service
provider. They can probably give you an idea of your personal repetition and
any signs you need to be aware of.