Background and objectives: The effect of follow-up after primary treatment for breast cancer on overall survival remains highly questionable, and controversy still exists regarding the benefits of regular follow-up. We therefore attempted to assess the role of intensive follow-up in patients with bone metastases.
Methods: We analyzed the survival of 87 breast cancer patients who relapsed first in bone diagnosed either with or without symptoms, from 1985 to 1998. Overall survival (OS) was the main outcome. Recurrence was coded as either asymptomatic, elevated tumor marker, or symptomatic.
Results: The median disease free interval was 33 months in the asymptomatic group, 42 months in the elevated tumor marker group, and 43 months in the symptomatic group. Overall survival did not differ significantly between the groups. The median OS was 77 months in the asymptomatic group, 78 months in the elevated tumor marker group, and 79 months in the symptomatic group.
Conclusions: Our study showed that intensive testing, including assessment of serum tumor markers and bone scans, did not improve OS. The results of our study supported the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recommendations that routine use of bone scans is not recommended.