Do I need a mastectomy for DCIS?

Most women with DCIS or breast cancer can choose to have breast-sparing surgery, usually followed by radiation therapy. Most women with DCIS or breast cancer can choose to have a mastectomy. You have small breasts and a large area of DCIS or cancer. You have DCIS or cancer in more than one part of your breast.

When is a mastectomy recommended for DCIS?

Mastectomy involves removal of the whole breast and is usually recommended if the DCIS affects a large area of the breast, if it has not been possible to get a clear area of normal tissue around the DCIS by wide local excision, or if there is more than one area of DCIS.

What is the current best treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ DCIS?

Radiation therapy

Treatment of DCIS has a high likelihood of success, in most instances removing the tumor and preventing any recurrence. In most people, treatment options for DCIS include: Breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) and radiation therapy. Breast-removing surgery (mastectomy)

Should I have surgery for DCIS?

Studies show that about 75% of DCIS cases may never become invasive breast cancer. Still, current guidelines for DCIS often recommend surgery, usually lumpectomy followed by radiation, to remove suspicious lesions.

Should I get a double mastectomy for DCIS?

“The findings suggest that patients and their doctors should focus on risk factors and appropriate therapy for the diseased breast, not the opposite breast, and that ipsilateral DCIS should not prompt a bilateral mastectomy.”

Higher local recurrence after skin-sparing than simple mastectomy for DCIS

Is DCIS likely to return in other breasts?

Patients with DCIS have a 15% chance of invasive local recurrence, Dr. Narod noted, but “preventing the invasive local recurrence has nothing to do with preventing death.

Does size of DCIS matter?

The larger the area of DCIS, the more likely it is to come back (recur) after surgery. Doctors use information about the size of the DCIS when recommending further treatments.

Should I have a mastectomy or lumpectomy?

Lumpectomy and mastectomy procedures are both effective treatments for breast cancer. Research shows there is no difference in survival rate from either procedure, though lumpectomy has a slightly higher risk of recurrent cancer.

What if DCIS is left untreated?

It is sometimes also referred to as 'pre-cancer'. If left untreated, DCIS may develop into invasive breast cancer (cancer that moves beyond the milk ducts). Invasive breast cancer can spread to other parts of your body. Most people with DCIS have no symptoms.

How do you know if DCIS has spread?

The doctor will remove a bit of tissue to look at under a microscope. They can make a diagnosis from the biopsy results. If the biopsy confirms you have cancer, you'll likely have more tests to see how large the tumor is and if it has spread: CT scan.

Can DCIS come back after lumpectomy?

A study found that radiation therapy given after DCIS is removed by lumpectomy reduces the risk that the DCIS will come back (recurrence).

Is tamoxifen necessary after DCIS?

Endocrine therapy initiation after ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is highly variable and largely unexplained. National guidelines recommend considering tamoxifen for women with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) DCIS or who undergo excision alone.

Why did I get DCIS?

DCIS forms when genetic mutations occur in the DNA of breast duct cells. The genetic mutations cause the cells to appear abnormal, but the cells don't yet have the ability to break out of the breast duct. Researchers don't know exactly what triggers the abnormal cell growth that leads to DCIS.

What percentage of DCIS comes back?

Reported recurrence rates for DCIS treated with breast-conserving surgery (BCS) from 4 prospective randomized trials of radiation range from 26–36% for those treated without radiation therapy, and 9–23% for those treated with radiation at 13–20 years of follow-up.

How often does DCIS become invasive?

The standard treatment of DCIS is primarily surgical, including BCS for localized lesions, and mastectomy for extensive or multicentric disease. Local recurrence rates (LRs) after BCS alone are high, ranging from 25% to 35% at 13–17 years of follow-up, and approximately half of all recurrences are invasive [26].

Is DCIS always Stage 0?

About 1 in 5 new breast cancers will be ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Nearly all women with this early stage of breast cancer can be cured. DCIS is also called intraductal carcinoma or stage 0 breast cancer. DCIS is a non-invasive or pre-invasive breast cancer.

How quickly does DCIS progress?

It assumes that all breast carcinomas begin as DCIS and take 9 years to go from a single cell to an invasive lesion for the slowest growing lesions, 6 years for intermediate growing DCIS lesions, and 3 years for fast-growing DCIS lesions.

Is DCIS 100 curable?

Many women — perhaps assuming all breast cancers are dangerous — may believe that removing the healthy breast after a diagnosis of DCIS improves their chances of survival. But DCIS is nearly 100 percent curable.

Is radiation better than mastectomy?

Lumpectomy Plus Radiation Offers Better Survival Rates Than Mastectomy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer. Lumpectomy plus radiation therapy offers better survival rates than mastectomy — with or without radiation — for women who are diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. May 18, 2021.

What are the disadvantages of a mastectomy?

When is lumpectomy an option?

Your doctor may recommend lumpectomy if a biopsy has shown that you have cancer and that the cancer is believed to be small and early stage. Lumpectomy may also be used to remove certain noncancerous or precancerous breast abnormalities.

Can DCIS be upgraded?

Indeed, in a number of published series of DCIS lesions diagnosed using needle biopsy, upgrading occurs in 2-49% of cases (Table I). The main consequence of upgrading from DCIS to an invasive breast carcinoma is a change in the treatment strategy during its course.

Does DCIS turn into IDC?

DCIS is a nonobligate precursor to infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast (IDC). A substantial proportion of patients with IDC have accompanying DCIS component. It was reported that the percentage of cases with DCIS associated with invasive cancer varied significantly from 21.3% to 76.9% in the literature (1-6).

What is considered extensive DCIS?

Mastectomy. Some women have extensive DCIS occupying several ducts and quadrants of the breast (known as extensive DCIS), or the noninvasive breast cancer is found at several areas throughout the breast, known as multicentric breast disease.

How do you stop DCIS from coming back?

Radiation Greatly Reduces Risk of Recurrence for Women with DCIS, a Type of Noninvasive Breast Cancer. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a low-risk form of early-stage breast cancer. Women with DCIS can have radiation after the tumor is removed to lower the risk that the cancer could come back.