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For many men with breast cancer, treatment may remove or destroy the cancer. Completing treatment can be both stressful and exciting. You may be relieved, but also find it hard not to worry about cancer coming back (recurring). This is very common if you've had cancer.

For other men, the cancer may never go away completely. Some men may continue to get regular treatments to try to help keep the cancer in check and help with symptoms. Learning to live with cancer that does not go away can be difficult, but many men find ways to manage their health and maintain a good quality of life.

No matter what your situation is, there are steps you can take to live well, both physically and emotionally.

Follow-up care after breast cancer

Talk with your doctor about developing a survivorship care plan for you. This plan can guide your next steps after treatment, including follow-up appointments and ways to stay healthy.

What’s usually in a survivorship care plan

A survivorship care plan might include:

• A suggested schedule for follow-up exams and tests
• A timeline for other tests, such as screening tests for other types of cancer or monitoring for long-term health effects from your cancer or its treatment
• A list of possible late or long-term side effects, including what to watch for and when you should contact your doctor
• Diet and physical activity suggestions

• Reminders to keep seeing your primary care provider (PCP) for regular healthcare and screening tests

Typical follow-up schedules after breast cancer

Even if you’ve completed breast cancer treatment, your doctors will want to watch you closely. It’s very important to go to all of these appointments.

Your follow-up visits will probably be scheduled for every few months at first. The longer you’ve been free of cancer, the less often these visits are needed. After 5 years, they are typically done about once a year.

During these visits, your doctors will ask if you are having any problems. They may do exams and lab tests or imaging tests to look for signs of cancer or treatment side effects.

Follow-up tests

Most men with breast cancer will have had a mastectomy (removal of the breast) as part of their treatment, so they don’t need mammograms as part of their follow-up. If you’ve had breast-conserving surgery instead, yearly mammograms of the affected breast might be recommended, although it’s not clear how helpful they are in men.

Certain types of hormone therapy drugs, such as aromatase inhibitors and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists, can raise your risk for osteoporosis (thinning of the bones). If you are taking one (or both) of these types of drugs, your doctor may want to test your bone density to monitor your bone health.

You likely won’t need any other routine blood or imaging tests unless you have signs or symptoms that suggest the breast cancer might have come back.

Managing side effects

Almost any cancer treatment can have side effects. Some might last only a few days or weeks, but others might last a long time (known as long-term side effects). Some might not even show up until long after you have finished treatment (known as late effects). Your follow-up visits are a good time to ask about any changes or problems you notice or concerns you have.

It’s very important to report any new symptoms to your cancer care team, because this could be from the cancer coming back or late side effects of treatment. Early treatment of these problems can often relieve many symptoms and improve your quality of life.

If the cancer comes back

If cancer does return, your treatment options will depend on where it comes back, what treatments you've had before, and your current health and preferences. For more information on how recurrent cancer is treated, see Treatment of Breast Cancer in Men.

Do male breast cancer survivors have a higher risk of other cancers?

Some cancer survivors develop a new, unrelated cancer after treatment. This is called a second cancer. Men who have had breast cancer have a higher risk of certain types of cancer, including:

• A second breast cancer (this is different from the first cancer coming back)
• Small intestine cancer
• Rectal cancer
• Pancreas cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Basal and squamous cell skin cancer
• Myeloid leukemia

For some of these second cancers, inherited genetic risk factors may play a role. For example, men with an inherited mutation in the BRCA2 gene have an increased risk of prostate and pancreas cancer as well as breast cancer.

Should I consider genetic testing for cancer risk?

All men with breast cancer meet guidelines for genetic testing. It’s important to discuss this with your doctor or see a genetic counselor, so you can make an informed decision about whether to be tested for a hereditary cancer syndrome that could put you at high risk for other cancers.

What tests should I get to check for second cancers?

For men who’ve had breast cancer, most experts don’t recommend any additional tests to look for second cancers (other than screening tests recommended for all men), unless you’re having symptoms. Let your doctor know about any new symptoms or problems, because they could be caused by the cancer coming back or by a new disease or second cancer.

Survivors of breast cancer should follow the P站视频 Guidelines for the Early Detection of Cancer.

Can I lower my risk of getting a second cancer?

To help maintain good health and lower cancer risk, breast cancer survivors should:

• Stay away from tobacco products, or get help quitting if you need it.
• Get to and stay at a healthy weight.
• Keep physically active and limit the time you spend sitting or lying down.
• Follow a healthy eating pattern that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and limits or avoids red and processed meats, sugary drinks, and highly processed foods.
• It's best not to drink alcohol. If you do drink, men should have no more than 2 drinks per day.