Follow-Up

Abstract

• Follow-up should not be seen exclusively from the physical perspective as women often have increased levels of anxiety after treatment completion, when close contact with the treatment team decreases. • Issues involving work, family and sexuality are often not closely addressed during follow-up, resulting in women not being able to cope effectively. • Depression and intense fatigue may occur in the months following the end of adjuvant chemotherapy and/or RT. Different set of challenges and realities should be addressed to encompass the physical and psychosocial needs of these women. • The role of a specialised breast nurse throughout the individual experience of cancer (cancer journey) is extremely important for the patient. In consideration of the huge number of BC survivors all over the world, the magnitude of an extensive follow-up could require a very costly monitoring, probably impossible to be met.

Future Directions. As the prevalence of BC rises, a dramatic increase in the number of BC survivors will place clinical and financial demands on the long-term surveillance system. Despite these challenges, evidence is mounting to suggest that disease relapse may be curable if diagnosed and treated early. One size fits all prescription has led to an increase in resource utilisation and expensive workups of false-positive tests. Moving forward, developing testing models relevant to a risk stratification system for individualised care may help better elicit the clinical benefit of early detection.