Do breast cancer patients have to have cat scans done after treatment?

Not all: Depends on stage. Patients with very early stage have extremely low risk of having detectable metastases on a scan so we usually don't do scans unless there is a symptom or a sign of potential spread. Patients with higher stage or inflammatory cancers usually get initial staging scans because they have higher odds of having mets. In the end it should be a judgment call of the treating doc.