Helping to Prevent a Breast Cancer Recurrence
- “Dancing With The Stars” alum Samantha Harris, 51, was first diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago when she was 40 years old, and again last year when she learned she had cancer recurrence. After beating the disease, she’s celebrating “every day.”
- While there is some disagreement about the exact age a woman should start getting mammograms, doctors generally agree it should happen in their 40s. The American Cancer Society (ACS) suggests women should begin annual mammogram screenings for breast cancer at age 45 if they are at average risk for breast cancer.
- However, an independent panel of experts called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says that women should start getting mammograms every other year at the age of 40, suggesting that this lowered the age for breast cancer screening could save 19% more lives.
- SurvivorNet talked with some of the best breast cancer specialists about what patients can do to prevent a recurrence of breast cancer and the top tip is to “follow treatment guidelines and complete the course of treatment” that’s prescribed for you. This means adhering to taking medications prescribed to help avoid recurrence.
To commemorate all that she’s been through and accomplished throughout her cancer journey, Harris, who has since been dedicated to living a healthy lifestyle, took to social media this week to offer some inspirational words to her fans.
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She continued, “Every day, I am grateful to see my daughters grow. Every day, I’m grateful to have another phone call with my mom and sister.
“And every day I am grateful to wake up with my amazing husband and get to sleep next to him each night.”
“I have so much yet to give this world! I have so much to share… and so much yet to do! I am grateful that I have my podcast, YOUR HEALTHIEST HEALTHY, to share insight and guidance with others to thrive beyond a setback of a health condition,” she explained further.
“I love arming people with the tools to ignite real change and be your own best health advocate!”
Harris often promotes her podcast “Your Healthiest Healthy with Samantha Harris,” where she offers “game-changing, small manageable action steps you need to live your most optimal life yet!”
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In the video shared by Harris, she expresses how grateful she is and exudes confidence on why she can celebrate after all that occurred.
Recalling how her daughters were just three and six years old at the time of her 2014 diagnosis, she insisted how she can celebrated “because I’m still here 11 years after my diagnosis.”
She continued, “To see my daughters turn into teenagers … and I have so much yet to live, that I am counting from day one in 2014 … 11 years.”
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Samantha’s Breast Cancer Journey
Samantha Harris received her first breast cancer diagnosis back in March 2014 despite finding nothing during a mammogram.
“It missed the cancer in my right breast,” Harris said on her blog. “Two doctors told me the lump I found 11 days later was ‘nothing.’
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“Finally, four months after finding that lump, I went to see a breast cancer specialist (a surgical oncologist), someone whose main job it is to look at breasts all day and specializes in the detection of breast cancer.”
After a follow-up MRI, biopsy, and ultrasound, Harris’ cancer was still not found. But doctors decided to remove some of her breasts for further testing because they could tell “something was not right.”
“We decided to take it out,” she explained. “Thank goodness, because when the pathology from that lumpectomy came back, it was indeed invasive carcinoma, in addition to the less concerning ductal carcinoma in situ.”
She treated her breast cancer with a bilateral mastectomy, also called a double mastectomy, which removes both breasts. After that, she underwent breast reconstructive surgery.
During reconstruction, plastic surgeons can reconstruct your breasts with implants or with your tissue taken from some other place on your body, such as your back, your abdomen, or your inner thigh.
Harris’ cancer did spread to one lymph node, but doctors decided she didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation.
The mother of two was ultimately declared “cancer-free” with close monitoring “for the rest of what doctors tell [her] is sure to be a long, healthy life,” however, on August 14, 2024, she went public with a second breast cancer diagnosis.
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She explained in a video clip shared on her Instagram page, Harris explained, “But I have a recurrence of breast cancer. And I feel so fortunate to have been able to guide, support and lead so many of you and I will continue to do so — and I will fight on. And I will be okay.”
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“And I am so grateful for my family and my close friends,” Harris added. “And as I lean on them, I reach out to lean on you during this time and I will continue to share more as my treatment plan unravels and … see you soon.”
How To Reduce the Risk Of A Breast Cancer Recurrence
You beat breast cancer. You battled the beast and are healthy, strong and ready to tackle the rest of your life. But what about breast cancer recurrence?
As triumphant as breast cancer survivors can feel after learning they are cancer free, many worry about recurrence. What are their chances of the cancer returning and what, if anything, can they do to help prevent it from doing so?
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While the chance of recurrence varies based on the biology of the tumor, the stage it was when diagnosed and the treatment received, according to the Susan G. Komen organization, “Most people diagnosed with breast cancer will never have a recurrence.” That’s the good news.
“Once a patient has finished his or her active therapy for breast cancer, we will often refer to that time as breast cancer survivorship,” says Dr. Erica Mayer, a breast cancer medical oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
“This is a time when patients are still being actively monitored by their treatment team, not only to ensure that they remain healthy and cancer-free in the years ahead, but also making sure that they have recovered from any side effects of their initial treatment, and that they are pursuing healthy behaviors for example, getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and keeping up with all their other routine medical care.”
But recurrence does happen, so it’s important to do everything you can to reduce your risk. Here are some tips:
1. Follow Treatment Guidelines
“The best way to reduce your risk of recurrence with breast cancer is to follow treatment guidelines and complete the course of treatment that’s given,” says Dr. Elisa Port, a surgical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Mount Sinai, recently sat down with SurvivorNet and offered the following advice.
For example, she says many women have breast cancer that’s hormonally driven, and there are treatments that they give, such as pills like Tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors, to reduce the risk of these hormonally-driven cancers coming back. The issue is that the course of treatment may call for patients to take the pills for 5-10 years. While some have no side effects, others may experience a host of unpleasant side effects, even to the point where they’re severely debilitated and have no quality of life on these medications.
“So the challenge is to work with every individual person to make sure we give her the best chance of getting through these treatments and enjoying the benefits of these treatments, which is the lowest rate of cancer coming back,” Port says.
2. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight may also reduce the risk.
“We know that obesity or being overweight can increase the risk of cancer recurrence in breast cancer,” Port says. “And so I say, maintaining a healthy body weight, whatever that is for the individual… You know, we talk a lot about healthy body weight, and there’s a very big range of this, but there are certain numbers beyond which, it does affect one’s health. So we try to keep people within a range of a healthy body weight.”
3. Limit Alcohol
Port says the other lifestyle factor that may increase one’s risk of breast cancer recurrence is heavy alcohol intake.
“We say alcohol in moderation is probably fine, which is defined as three to five drinks a week,” Port told SurvivorNet. “More than that can also potentially increase the risk of recurrence. So the big lifestyle factors are healthy body weight and moderate alcohol intake.”
4. Eat a Healthy Diet
She says there’s no one dietary element that you can eat or consume to give you an edge against breast cancer recurrence. It’s not eating more broccoli or eating more blueberries or becoming a vegetarian. She says the fact that sugar feeds cancer is a big myth too. However, everything you eat does contribute to your overall health.
“These things are all really helpful in maintaining an overall healthy well-balanced diet and also to maintain healthy body weight. We know that diets that are heavy in sugar content are also usually unhealthy and can lead to weight issues. So it all really funnels back to maintaining a healthy body weight when it comes to lifestyle factors.”
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5. Exercise
This goes hand-in-hand with maintaining a healthy weight. Dr. Erica Mayer, a breast cancer medical oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, previously told SurvivorNet, “Once a patient has finished his or her active therapy for breast cancer, we will often refer to that time as breast cancer survivorship.
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“This is a time when patients are still being actively monitored by their treatment team, not only to ensure that they remain healthy and cancer-free in the years ahead, but also making sure that they have recovered from any side effects of their initial treatment, and that they are pursuing healthy behaviors for example, getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and keeping up with all their other routine medical care.”
CDK4/6 Inhibitors Can Help Reduce Chance of Breast Cancer Recurrence
In the breast cancer space, there are constant efforts from researchers and drug makers to develop therapies that can not only treat cancer better, but reduce the risk of it returning. And many promising advancements in breast cancer have arose in recent years.
For women with a common subtype of breast cancer — hormone-receptor-positive and HER2-negative (HR+ and HER2-) — a newer class of drugs called CDK4/6 inhibitors are showing promise.
CDK4/6 inhibitors work to interrupt the growth of cancer cells. SurvivorNet sat down with Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky, Head of Breast Medical Oncology at Valley Health System, to discuss how a CDK4/6 inhibitor, Ribociclib (sold under brand names Kisqali and Kryxana), is being studied for women with this specific type of breast cancer.
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Referencing data obtained from the NATALEE phase III clinical trial, Dr. Teplinsky explained how breast cancer patients who received Ribociclib along with endocrine therapy (the current recommended treatment) had a 25% lower risk in recurrence or death.
Prior to the study, “Ribociclib was already approved for metastatic hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, but this study was looking to see if it has benefits in reducing recurrence in earlier stage breast cancer,” she explained.
The study looked at something called disease-free survival, which means patients are alive without their cancer recurring.
“In the group that received Ribociclib and endocrine therapy … at three years their disease-free survival was 90.4% compared to 87.1% in the group that received endocrine therapy alone,” Dr. Teplinsky said. This translates to a 3.3% “absolute improvement.”
It’s important to note that this therapy option is not currently FDA-approved.
The Importance of Breast Cancer Screening
Screening for breast cancer is normally done through a mammogram, which looks for lumps in the breast tissue and signs of cancer.
While there is some disagreement about the exact age a woman should start getting mammograms, doctors generally agree it should happen in their 40s.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) suggests women should begin annual mammogram screenings for breast cancer at age 45 if they are at average risk for breast cancer.
However, an independent panel of experts called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now says that women should start getting mammograms every other year at the age of 40, suggesting that this lowered the age for breast cancer screening could save 19% more lives
WATCH: Mammograms are still the best tool for detecting breast cancer.
The ACS also advises:
- Women aged 40-44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year
- Women aged 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year
- Women aged 55 and older could also choose to continue yearly mammograms
For screening purposes, a woman is considered to be at average risk if she doesn’t have a personal history of breast cancer, a strong family history of breast cancer, a genetic mutation known to increase risk of breast cancer such as a BRCA gene mutation or a medical history including chest radiation therapy before the age of 30.
Experiencing menstruation at an early age (before 12) or having dense breasts can also put you into a high-risk category. If you are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, you should begin screening earlier.
Don’t delay speaking with your doctor to make sure you are staying on top of your breast health.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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