Ductal carcinoma in situ doesn’t mean Breast Cancer

New research has called a common (and often disfiguring) treatment for early stage breast cancer into question.

DCIS will be found in about 60,000 U.S. women this year, versus more than 230,000 women expected to be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, the cancer society estimates. The two decade long study registered 3 percent death rate among women whose breast cancer was confined to a milk duct.

They assessed the risk of cancer overall, as well as specific cancers which are known to be related to alcohol use, such as breast cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer and cancer of the oesophagus. Usually there are three way doctors treat DCIS.

They used data from two large US studies that tracked the health of 88,084 women and 47,881 men for up to 30 years.

To reach their conclusion, the team analyzed data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database, identifying 108,196 women aged 15-69 who were diagnosed with DCIS between 1988 and 2011. What’s more (and even more confusing), these women seem to have died whether they were treated for the breast cancer or not.

But an editorial accompanying the paper, published in the journal JAMA Oncology, sees the findings a different way.

Although radiotherapy reduced the risk of ipsilateral invasive recurrence, it did not reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer within 10 years of DCIS diagnosis.

However, age at diagnosis and ethnicity play a role. “It showed the risk for women, and I think what’s even more interesting or concerning about the findings is that it showed this increased risk with what we consider light to moderate alcohol consumption within what is considered an acceptable daily amount”.

Extent of screening, breast cancer incidence, and mortality in women 40 years and older in 547 US counties.

Researchers say the mortality rate for women with DCIS is “too low to justify toxic therapy.”

In contrast, even women who had never smoked had an increased risk of alcohol-related cancers -mainly breast cancer, with one drink a day. High-risk cases should still be aggressively treated while new treatments are explored, she wrote.

The mortality rates for both younger women and black patients diagnosed were higher, the researchers noted. Its scientists are conducting global research that advances the health of women and improves healthcare options for all, and are then translating those discoveries to provide much-needed improvements in healthcare worldwide. A champion of health equity, WCH advocates for the health of all women from diverse cultures and backgrounds and ensures their needs are reflected in the care they receive.