Breast cancer
Life during and after breast cancer treatment
Guidance on managing life during and after breast cancer treatment, including diet, exercise, emotions, your finances, follow-up care and monitoring for recurrence.
Last updated: 11 March 2026
Sources and references 
Looking after yourself
Cancer can cause physical and emotional strain, so it’s important to look after your wellbeing. Cancer Council has downloadable pdfs to help you during and after treatment. Call Cancer Council on 13 11 20 for more information and support.
Eating well
Healthy food can help you cope with treatment and side effects and maintain a healthy weight. Many people gain weight during and after breast cancer treatment, which studies show increases the risk of cancer coming back. A dietitian can explain how to manage any special dietary needs or eating problems. If you choose to drink alcohol, the guidelines recommend no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.
Work and money
Cancer can change your financial situation, especially if you have extra medical expenses or need to stop working. Getting professional financial advice and talking to your employer can give you peace of mind. You can also check whether any financial assistance is available to you by asking a social worker at your hospital or treatment centre or calling Cancer Council 13 11 20.
Relationships
Having cancer can affect your relationships with family, friends and colleagues in many different ways. Cancer is stressful, tiring and upsetting, and this may strain your relationships. The experience of cancer may also result in positive changes to your values, priorities or outlook on life. Give yourself time to adjust to what’s happening, and do the same for those around you. It may help to discuss your feelings with each other.
Complementary therapies
Complementary therapies are designed to be used alongside conventional medical treatments. Therapies such as massage, relaxation and acupuncture can increase your sense of control, decrease stress and anxiety, and improve your mood. Let your doctor know about any therapies you are using or thinking about trying, as some may not be safe or evidence-based.
Life after treatment
For most people, the cancer experience does not end on the last day of treatment. Life after cancer treatment can present its own challenges. You may have mixed feelings when treatment ends, and worry that every ache and pain means the cancer is coming back.
Some people say that they feel pressure to return to “normal life”. It is important to allow yourself time to adjust to the physical and emotional changes, and establish a new daily routine at your own pace. Your family and friends may also need time to adjust.
Cancer Council 13 11 20 can help you connect with other people who have had breast cancer, and provide you with information about the emotional and practical aspects of living well after cancer.
Follow-up appointments
After treatment ends, you will have regular appointments with your cancer specialist and GP to monitor your ongoing health. This is known as shared care. Your doctors will see how you are going on hormone therapy (if this is part of your ongoing treatment), help you to manage any long-term side effects such as lymphoedema, peripheral neuropathy or heart issues, and check that the cancer has not come back or spread.
During these check-ups, you will usually have a physical examination. You will also be able to discuss how you’re feeling and mention any concerns you may have.
Check-ups after breast cancer treatment are likely to happen every 3–6 months for 2 years. They will become less frequent after that if you have no further problems.
You are likely to have a mammogram and, if needed, an ultrasound every year. You won’t need a mammogram if you’ve had a double mastectomy. If there is a concern the cancer may have come back, you may have a bone scan and a CT, PET or MRI scan. After 5 years with no sign of cancer, women aged 40 and over can continue to have a free mammogram through the national breast cancer screening program.
When a follow-up appointment or test is approaching, many people find that they think more about the cancer and may feel anxious (“scanxiety”). Talk to your treatment team or call Cancer Council 13 11 20 if you are finding it hard to manage this anxiety.
Between follow-up appointments, let your doctor know immediately of any symptoms or health problems.
What if the cancer returns?
Sometimes, breast cancer does come back after treatment, which is called a recurrence. This is why regular check-ups are important. In most cases, early breast cancer will not come back (recur) after treatment. Although the risk is higher with locally advanced breast cancer, many people will not experience a recurrence.
There are some things that increase the risk that cancer may come back. These include if the cancer was large or the grade was high when first diagnosed, if it was found in the lymph nodes, or if the surgical margin was not clear. Your risk may also be increased if the cancer was hormone receptor negative or if adjuvant treatment (e.g. radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy) was recommended after surgery but was not started or completed. This does not mean the cancer will definitely come back or spread.
Regularly looking at and feeling your breasts to know what is normal (being “breast aware”) can help find cancer in the treated or other breast.
If you have had a double mastectomy with or without a reconstruction, you should also regularly look at and feel your new shape and get to know your “new normal”. Tell your specialist, breast care nurse or GP if you notice any changes. Breast cancer can also return in other parts of the body, such as the bones, liver or lungs. Most symptoms will not be a recurrence, but if you notice any changes to your health, see your doctor and let them know that you have had breast cancer.
It is important to continue taking the drugs your doctor prescribes, even months or years after your treatment. Talk to your doctor before you stop taking any drugs, as these drugs may be helping to stop the cancer returning.
Sources and references
This information has been developed by Cancer Council NSW on behalf of all other state and territory Cancer Councils and Cancer Council Australia as part of a National Cancer Information Subcommittee initiative. We thank the reviewers of this content: Dr Diana Adams, Medical Oncologist, Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, NSW; Prof Bruce Mann, Specialist Breast Surgeon and Director, Breast Cancer Services, The Royal Melbourne and The Royal Women’s Hospitals, VIC; Dr Shagun Aggarwal, Specialist Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Prince of Wales, Sydney Children’s and Royal Hospital for Women, NSW; Andrea Concannon, consumer; Jenny Gilchrist, Nurse Practitioner Breast Oncology, Macquarie University Hospital, NSW; Monica Graham, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council WA; Natasha Keir, Nurse Practitioner Breast Oncology, GenesisCare, QLD; Dr Bronwyn Kennedy, Breast Physician, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse and Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, NSW; Lisa Montgomery, consumer; A/Prof Sanjay Warrier, Specialist Breast Surgeon, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW; Dr Janice Yeh, Radiation Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC. We also thank the health professionals, consumers and editorial teams who have worked on previous editions of this title.
Photographs have been reproduced with permission from A/Prof James French, Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, NSW; Prof Elisabeth Elder, Westmead Breast Cancer Institute and The University of Sydney, NSW; and Breast Cancer: Taking Control, breastcancertakingcontrol.com © Boycare Publishing, 2010.
Breast Cancer
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