„You furrow your brow, doctor. Are you worried about my findings?“ Merits and confusions by a surveillance-schedule for women with operated breast cancer outside a clinical trial

Background: Despite recently updated ASCO-Guidelines for breast cancer follow-up a multitude of departments still offer a more or less scheduled surveillance program for patients operated on the disease. Methods: In a retrospective analysis a total amount of 137 female patients with operated invasive (N=118) or non-invasive (N=19) breast cancer is reinvestigated concerning their participation in our surveillance program, especially regarding benefits or disadvantages due to these visits. Selected women were all treated between January 2000 and December 2001 with a Karnofsky-Index of at least 80% and had no previ…