Oncologic Surveillance with Orthopaedic Oncology

Oncologic Surveillance

Patients always ask “When am I considered cured?” The further out from diagnosis and treatment, the better the prognosis. Five years out from surgery and treatment, patients can relax somewhat, but we do not say a patient is truly cured until 10 years out. Technically, at the 10 year mark, patients can stop oncologic surveillance, but most patients continue with a yearly visit for continued surveillance of their cancer and/or other types of cancer that may arise.

For malignant bone surgery, every follow-up office visit (except the first post-operative visit for an incision check) requires an x-ray of the body part that was operated on. No x-rays are required for a malignant soft tissue post-operative visit, unless the patient has had some type of internal fixation (hardware). Additional re-staging scans, such as chest CT, MRI & PET, will be ordered per the oncologic surveillance schedule below to evaluate for recurrent and/or metastatic disease. We follow the National Cancer Care Network guidelines for malignant bone and soft tissue surveillance.

Knowledge is power. Knowledge about your body, your diseases and its treatment gives a sense of control over the stressful, unpredictable situation of living with and surviving cancer. Ask questions.