Untangling the non-invasive breast cancer controversy

In this study, approximately 500 patients died of breast cancer without ever having invasive cancer in the breast. This suggests that for some very small subset of women, distant or metastatic disease occurred despite treatment of DCIS — a concerning finding. Also, death rates were higher for women diagnosed with DCIS before the age of 35, and for black women compared to non-Hispanic white women. This suggests that these women may need more aggressive intervention. The good news: The study also reaffirmed the fact that overall, mortality associated with DCIS is exceedingly low. Fewer than 1% of patients in this 20-year study died from breast cancer. Did the media send the wrong message about the study results? Some media coverage of this study tended to leave the impression that DCIS doesn’t need to be treated. In fact, all patients in the study received some form of treatment. What the study does say is that none of the specific treatments the researchers compared against each other (lumpectomy with or without radiation or mastectomy) differed very much from one another with respect to ultimate survival. Ongoing trials are looking at whether “watchful waiting” may be reasonable for certain women — that is to say, closely following low-risk patients (for example, those with small tumors or low- to intermediate-grade cancers) to determine if and when treatment is needed. However, we don’t have those results yet.  For some women, DCIS is a “precursor” to invasi...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Breast Cancer Tests and procedures DCIS ductal carcinoma in situ Non-invasive Breast Cancer Source Type: news