Incidence of breast cancer recurrence 10-32 years after the primary diagnosis

More effective breast cancer (BC) treatments have increased the prevalence of long-term survivors. A study in Denmark has investigated the risk of late breast recurrence, 10 years or more after the primary diagnosis. Among 36,924 women with BC, 20,315 became 10-year disease-free survivors. Of these, during follow-up from 10 to 32 years after the diagnosis, 2,595 developed late recurrence (cumulative incidence 16.6%; 95% CI 15.8-17.5). Tumor size larger than 20 mm, lymph node positive disease, and ER-positive tumors were associated with increased risk of late recurrence.