There is much debate about follow-up testing after breast cancer treatment. Some oncologists check the blood for tumor markers routinely while other oncologists choose not to use them. One popular marker that is used to detect early breast cancer recurrence is called CA 27.29.

Tumor markers caused me severe anxiety. I guess that would come with the territory of cancer. Get diagnosed with breast cancer, go through months and months of treatment and then have to get tests to see if the cancer has returned. It never ends.

I put a stop to it myself. For me this came down to a quality of life issue. For a year after my treatment was over for breast cancer I would get the tumor markers done every three months. I was living my life focused on these numbers. Am I in normal range?! What agony waiting for the results!

Of course my oncologist is one who likes to do the tumor markers so I had to convince him that it was not for me. I do think they can be a good tool for metastatic disease. They can show if disease is regressing or progressing and also can show what type of chemotherapy is working.

For follow-up testing after an initial breast cancer diagnosis I feel they are limited. First, the numbers can rise out of normal range due to other things. Second, it is possible to have a recurrence and the markers not pick it up. Third, it can lead to more tests that might or might not find cancer if the markers rise.

I guess my worst fear is having raised tumor markers and then not being able to find out why they are out of normal range. It might be a relief if the scans are clear but it is not proof there isn't cancer lurking somewhere too small to be picked up. So, then it's a waiting game to see if and when something does show up. I can't live in that kind of limbo. Oncologists cannot treat cancer based off the tumor markers alone.

I tried to read as much as I could about follow-up testing. I want to be proactive but at what price? The question remains. Will tumor markers give me a greater chance that I will live longer if they find metastatic disease sooner? It doesn't seem so. Why then should I put myself through that? I have found that women who were diagnosed with a recurrence after complaining of pain faired as well as those who were found to have metastasis after the tumor markers had started to rise.

I came across a book by Musa Mayer who is a 14 year breast cancer survivor. The book is called After Breast Cancer: Answers to the Questions You're Afraid to Ask. This book justified for me that what I was doing was okay and not detrimental to my health. I think that if you can handle mentally getting the markers then you should do them. I also think my oncologist wants to use what is available to him, no matter if it is limited, to help diagnose recurrence sooner. I don't think that is a bad idea in itself but it changes things when it is you they are giving the blood test to.

Knowledge is power! However, tumor markers need to be more accurate for me to want to get them. My sanity is important for me to lead a productive and happy life.