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One of the most frequently asked questions by patients with early-stage breast cancer is how will they be followed for evidence of disease recurrence. The current recommendation to follow largely by clinical exam is often met with astonished looks questioning why more isn't done. To date, clinical practice guidelines support this conservative approach, which is based largely on older clinical trials that showed that doing more in the way of imaging or classic tumor markers did not improve outcome. However, in the era of molecular testing and assays that assess circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor free DNA, and other potential “fingerprints” of residual tumor cells, the notion of monitoring patients more aggressively is being re…