How frequently are your tumour markers checked? I recall this was done every time I had chemo (EC and Taxol) as well as every time I had my Zometa treatment. Today I had my last Zometa but tumour markers were not checked. It was only 3 years ago that I started chemo and I still have to go on Letrozole for 2½ more years. Shouldn’t tumour markers be checked at least once a year until our 5th year?
No. In early stage breast cancer, checking tumor markers does not in anyway help protect someone from a recurrence or actually do anything to increase the odds of long term survival. Instead it causes a lot of stress and unnecessary testing.
Ok. So for what I understand then this is only done if you have Stage 4 o metastatic cancer? My MammaPrint said I was high risk, reproducing at a 40% rate.
It’s done a lot for stage 3 and stage 4 patients. But if you’re considered an early diagnosis it adds nothing to your monitoring beyond a freakout.