Do you recommend self-breast exams to your patients with history of breast cancer in addition to imaging surveillance?

This is a somewhat controversial question. I cannot find any data on the risks or benefits of counseling on self-exams in breast cancer survivors.

I will simply say this. Among survivors, there are differences between patients that I think the physician must understand and meet the patients where th...

Yes, on the grounds that they may only be seen by their physicians a couple of times per year. But, if they are doing a self-exam weekly, they have a chance to pick up any new changes much earlier, and at their next physician's visit, can at a minimum direct their doctor to something the patient fee...

For the majority of patients who present with mammographically detected cancers, I'll remind them of how much effort it took their experienced surgeon to figure out exactly where to operate. Therefore, I'm certainly not going to hold a woman responsible for finding a problem by pressing around with ...

This question then leads to the correlate: what is the value of clinical breast examination after treatment? Clearly, we do it to ensure that there is no treatment related toxicity, but does it provide benefit from a “survival” standpoint? What is the evidence to support CBE after breast conservatio...