Once the lump grows, breast biopsy is performed to determine whether it is cancerous. Breast reconstruction rarely hides recurrent breast cancer. Women whose initial breast cancer was aggressive are more likely to have recurrences than other women. Inflammatory breast cancer with cancer cells in the lymphatics of the skin or breast often recurs. Also, women with large tumors or several cancerous lymph nodes may experience recurrent breast cancer.
Treatment involves simply removing the cancerous node.
Regional recurrence in the lymph nodes of the neck or above the collarbone usually indicates more aggressive cancers. Besides local and regional recurrences, a new cancer may occasionally occur years after the initial cancer. Usually, the new cancer is in a different area of the breast and does not have the same pathology. Second cancers are treated as new cancers, independent of the first cancer. A distant recurrence of breast cancer is called metastatic disease.