Prevention

Strategies that have been linked to a reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence include:

• Hormone therapy. Taking hormone therapy after your initial treatment may reduce the risk of recurrence if you have hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Hormone therapy may continue for at least five years.
• Chemotherapy. For people with breast cancer who have an increased risk of cancer recurrence, chemotherapy has been shown to decrease the chance that cancer will recur, and those who receive chemotherapy live longer.
• Radiation therapy. People who've had a breast-sparing operation to treat their breast cancer and those who had a large tumor or inflammatory breast cancer have a lower chance of the cancer recurring if they're treated with radiation therapy.
• Targeted therapy. If your cancer makes extra HER2 protein, drugs that target that protein can help decrease the chance of the cancer recurring.
• Bone-building drugs. Taking bone-building drugs reduces the risk of cancer recurring in the bones (bone metastasis) in people with an increased risk for breast cancer recurrence.
• Maintaining a healthy weight. Maintaining a healthy weight may help decrease the risk of recurrent breast cancer.
• Exercising. Regular exercise may reduce your risk of breast cancer recurrence.
• Choosing a healthy diet. Focus on including lots of vegetables, fruits and whole grains in your diet. If you choose to drink alcohol, limit yourself to one drink a day.