Evaluating the Age-Based Recommendations for Long-Term Follow-Up in Breast Cancer

Abstract

Background: After 5 years of annual follow-up following breast cancer, Dutch guidelines are age based: annual follow-up for women 75 years. We determined how the risk of recurrence corresponds to these consensus-based recommendations and to the risk of primary breast cancer in the general screening population. Subjects, Materials, and Methods: Women with early-stage breast cancer in 2003/2005 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (n = 18,568). Cumulative incidence functions were estimated for follow-up years 5–10 for locoregional recurrences (LRRs) and second primary tumors (SPs). Risks were compared with the screening population without history of breast cancer. Alternative cut..