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Breast Cancer: Fear of Recurrence Can Haunt Women for Years

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Feb 10, 2025.

By Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Feb. 10, 2025 -- A survey of hundreds of breast cancer survivors finds that tumor recurrence fear can wreak havoc on a woman's emotions.

“Cancer is all around us. Everything is a trigger," one survey participant said. "Anniversaries, other family/friends’ diagnosis, commercials about drugs, social media, etc. …it’s a daily thought or a daily emotion.”

All of the 347 women surveyed "were reportedly disease free and trying to rebuild their lives during their post-treatment survivorship," noted study lead author Shelley Johns.

She said the women's testimonials give "clarity about how breast cancer survivors are impacted by fear of recurrence and insight into how they cope with this understandable fear.”

Johns is a researcher-clinician with the Regenstrief Institute at Indiana University in Indianapolis. Her team published its findings recently in the journal Supportive Care in Cancer.

Women reacted with a range of emotions to the knowledge that their cancer did have a chance of returning.

Some said the issue was mildly disrupting to their lives, while others were more severely affected.

In milder cases, intrusive thoughts and worries about cancer recurrence happened only sporadically, while in tougher cases these issues were persistent and easily triggered.

For many women, sleep disturbances were an issue, as were irritability, sadness and stress. Many women worried that they focused on cancer's return more than the average survivor and felt shame that they did so.

One woman said she would sometimes "sit for hours doing nothing, do not turn on TV, sleepless, find hours pass by and I am in the same place just thinking, do not participate in activities, get lost driving because I’m deep in thought, compulsive online shopping, collecting things.”

Physical triggers were also common.

"Whenever I feel any kind of pain or discomfort in the area where I had cancer it concerns me and I feel anxious and irritable," one woman said.

However, many women surveyed said they'd also developed strategies to help them cope with their fears.

“Just trying to be positive, eat healthy, take my meds, get enough sleep, exercise three times a week, and hope for the best," one survivor said.

Prayer and meditation helped another woman, and one survivor cited disconnecting from certain media.

Another said "I also speak with family members who have lived with cancer longer than myself," to help keep her spirits up.

For some, there was a healthy upside to their focus on keeping cancer at bay.

“It motivates me to maintain healthy habits," one woman said. "Such as eating five servings of fruits and vegetables, working out and drinking less alcohol. It also motivates me to maintain mental health and physical health.”

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted February 2025

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