It’s common for patients to fear that their cancer will return. Breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer, so it makes sense that fear of recurrence among its survivors is especially widespread.
Oncologists say that some level of anxiety about recurrence among survivors of breast cancer can be beneficial, perhaps motivating patients to exercise or embrace a healthy diet. However, for many survivors of breast cancer, this fear can reduce their quality of life, potentially leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Such fear is “a daily emotion,” one patient reported as part of a recent study of survivors of breast cancer. “Almost every life domain was being impacted by fear of recurrence for some people,” explained the study’s senior author Shelley A. Johns, PsyD, a researcher-clinician with the…