Clinical practice guidelines for the care and treatment of breast cancer: follow-up after treatment for breast cancer (summary of the 2005 update).

This article provides a summary of the changes along with the updated recommendations (Table 1) made by Health Canada’s Steering Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Care and Treatment of Breast Cancer to the article “Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Care and Treatment of Breast Cancer: 9. Follow-up after treatment for breast cancer,” originally published in 1998 (the 2005 update, as well as an updated patient guide, can be found online at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full /158/3/DC1). In the 1998 guideline, it was recommended that all patients who have completed primary treatment for breast cancer should have regular follow-up surveillance consisting of medical history, physical examination and annual mammograms. It was also recommended that the frequency of visits be adjusted according to the individual patient’s needs, that patients be encouraged to report new persistent symptoms promptly without waiting for the next scheduled appointment, that the responsibility for follow-up be formally allocated to a single physician and that the patient be fully informed of the arrangements for follow-up. In the 2005 update, the evidence supporting the goals of follow-up and the components of the follow-up program have been updated. After a review of the updated evidence, the steering committee has decided to leave the existing guidelines unchanged and has added recommendations to address special Clinical practice guidelines for the care and treatment of breast cancer: follow-up after treatment for breast cancer (summary of the 2005 update)