Which of the following statement (s) is/are true concerning the recurrence of breast cancer?

a. The majority of patients recur within five years of diagnosis

b. More than 70% of breast cancer recurrence involve distant metastases

d. The local recurrence rate following breast-conserving procedures varies from 10% to 40% whether or not radiation was used

Metastatic disease following primary therapy for breast cancer can recur at any time. However, of those who relapse, 50% to 70% do within two years and over 85% relapse within five years. More than 70% of recurrences are distant, but anywhere from 10% to 30% of recurrences are local. Bone and lung are the most common initial sites of distant relapse (50% and 25%), respectively. A breast-conserving procedure can be associated with a local tumor recurrence rate. The rate of local recurrence falls from 40% to 10% if postoperative radiation therapy is given to the entire breast. Despite potentially curative resection, at least 20% of node-negative and 60% of node-positive breast cancer patients have recurrence of their disease at some time after surgery.