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Breast Cancer Series, Part 3: Micrometastatic Disease

Even after tumor resection with negative margins there is a chance cancer cells already migrated to other areas of the body. These cells are too small/few to appear on imaging as metastatic disease. With certain oncotype risk scores, adjuvant chemotherapy can be an important part of treatment to ⬇️ risk of recurrence and growth of metastases.

Special thank you to Dr. Tara Sanft, MD at Smilow Cancer Hospital for explaining this concept to me. I would see the term in documentation and also be confused if this was metastatic disease. The word “metastatic” is frightening, no matter the context it is given in. This graphic was made with the purpose of assisting patients in understanding their recommended treatment course and the meaning of this concept.

#breastcancerawareness
#micrometastaticdisease
#medicaloncology