Health behavior change following a diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ: An opportunity to improve health outcomes

Publication date: November 2015 Source:Preventive Medicine, Volume 80 Author(s): Amy M. Berkman, Amy Trentham-Dietz, Kim Dittus, Vicki Hart, Christine M. Vatovec, John G. King, Ted A. James, Susan G. Lakoski, Brian L. Sprague Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive breast cancer that comprises approximately 20% of new breast cancer diagnoses. DCIS is predominantly detected by screening mammography prior to the development of any clinical symptoms. Prognosis following a DCIS diagnosis is excellent, due to both the availability of effective treatments and the frequently benign nature of the disease. However, a DCIS diagnosis and its treatment have psychological and physical impacts that often lead to adverse changes in health-related behaviors, including changes in physical activity, body weight, alcohol intake, and smoking, which may represent a greater threat to the woman's overall health than the DCIS itself. Depending on age at diagnosis, women diagnosed with DCIS are 3–13 times more likely to die from non-breast cancer related causes, such as cardiovascular disease, than from breast cancer. Thus, the maintenance and improvement of healthy behaviors that influence a variety of outcomes after diagnosis may warrant increased attention during DCIS management. This may also represent an important opportunity to promote the adoption of healthy behaviors, given that DCIS carries the psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis but also a favorable ...
Source: Preventive Medicine - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research