I am confused. I have just read on an American website (www.breastcancer.org)that “About 25% to 50% of DCIS cases come back as invasive cancer”. Yet I was under the impression that once successfully treated your chances of breast cancer returning were no greater than someone who had never had it, and it was on the news the other night that recent research had confirmed this. Can anyone shed any light?
I’ve read what the breastcancer.org site says and it is saying that if you have DCIS removed by surgery alone, you have a 25% to 50% chance of cancer developing in the same breast. It recommends having radiotherapy as well which reduces the recurrence rate to a much lower level.
That’s on the assumption that you have a lumpectomy for DCIS.
Mortality rates for DCIS are low - 2% but still higher than if you hadn’t had pr-cancer at all.
Regards
Mole
Thanks that makes sense. Have had WLE, radiotherapy and am on Tamoxifen so i can probably breath easy again.
I have read studies regarding DCIS and recurrences and I read that the most significant indicator of recurrence is whether there is any necrosis in the lesion(s) that are removed. As long as you have had rads to ensure any stray cancer cells are mopped up then the risk of recurrence is cut down by about 50%.
Every one of us is individual though and the factors that will have been taken into account are the nuclear grade, the size of the DCIS, the size of the margins and if they are clear, your age at diagnosis, the way it was diagnosed (e.g. by a routine mammo or whether you presented with a lump to be checked out) and whether there was any necrosis in the lesion. Apparently the older you are when diagnosed, the less chance of it recurring but I think that may be because it is deemed to generally take many years to develop.
You need to ask your Oncologist about your own individual chances of a recurrence.
Suze
I had a mastectomy - July 07 - for high grade DCIS, I also had lymph nodes removed which were clear, I didn’t have radiotherapy, but have been on Tamoxifen for just over a year.
I was lead to believe that the chances of DCIS returning in the removed breast …breast wall as it is now…was negligible.
Linda
Hi Liz,
I can understand all the confusion! I think what you read may have meant; only 25% - 50%of DCIS becomes invasive in the first place , even when left alone! I have read that in my many research books.
hope that helps to relieve the anxiety a bit!
Love JulieXX
Thank you Julie, it’s all so confusing at times, I try not to think about it too much and just get on with life.
Linda x