Early Stage Treatment Questioned For Breast Cancer

New research has called a common treatment for early stage breast cancer into question. The treatment can often be disfiguring. According to a study published in the journal JAMA Oncology found that women with stage 0 breast cancer which is also known as ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS who undergo treatment have the same likelihood of dying of breast cancer within 20 years as women in the general population.

DCIS is often diagnosed after abnormal cells have been found in the breast's milk ducts. This is most often detected through a mammogram. It not makes up about one in five new breast cancer diagnoses according the American Cancer Society. The good thing is almost all women diagnosed at this stage can be cured. 

The study analyzed data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database of more than 108,000 women who received a diagnosis of DCIS from 1988 to 2011. These patients were evaluated based on their risk of dying compared to women in the general population. Women with the diagnoses were treated with a lumpetcomy, lumpectomy with radiation therapy or mastectomy. Researchers discovered that the rate of dying from breast cancer within 20 years was the same for all three groups 3.3 percent which is similar to that of the general population.

These findings are not necessarily shocking in the medical community. Oncologists have always been skeptical about overtreating DCIS. The detection of this breast cancer early stage is quite new and doctors are still trying to fully understand the disease. 

But it doesn't mean women shouldn't do anything when diagnosed. There are a lot of tumors that don't change or evolve into aggressive cancers and most patients would likely benefit from less invasive treatment. Some women may have a cancer recurrence even after undergoing a lumpectomy with radiation treatment or mastectomy.