Abstract CN03-03: Improving decision making for ductal carcinoma in situ

With greater use of screening mammography, the incidence of pre-invasive breast carcinoma or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) has increased by 560% over the past 35 years. By the year 2020, more than 1 million women will be living with a DCIS diagnosis. Despite the large number of women affected, the optimal treatment strategy for DCIS is not known.DCIS does not spread to the lymph nodes or other sites in the body, but left untreated, can progress to invasive breast cancer. Mastectomy, or removal of the breast, had been the standard of care for treatment of DCIS and is curative in almost all patients; however, it is an extreme surgery for a diagnosis that may not progress to invasive breast cancer. Currently over 70% of women with DCIS receive breast-conserving surgery, but they then have a risk of being diagnosed with a second cancer in the same breast. To reduce this risk some women receive radiation therapy or tamoxifen therapy. Radiation therapy delivered to the breast after breast-conserving surgery to decrease the risk of another diagnosis in the affected breast. But if a woman undergoes radiation for DCIS and then has a 2nd diagnosis in the same breast, she will need a mastectomy since radiation can only be given once due to limits of normal tissue tolerance. Therefore, radiation therapy may also reduce the long-term likelihood of breast conservation. The important outcome of lifetime breast conservation with or without radiation has not been studied, resulting in patie...
Source: Cancer Prevention Research - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Decision Making: Oral Presentations - Invited Abstracts Source Type: research