To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - BREAST CANCER: Outlook Good For Women With Early Breast Cancer URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/150B3A.htm Doctor's Guide December 15, 1999
By Robert Carlson Special to DG News SAN ANTONIO, TX -- December 15, 1999 -- Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) have a dilemma -- whether to have a radical mastectomy of the breast or a breast-conserving "lumpectomy" which removes only the tumor. DCIS is a very early stage of breast cancer in which the tumor has not yet invaded surrounding tissue. A study described at this meeting found that women treated with breast-conserving surgery for DCIS had a 10 percent chance that an invasive cancer would occur in that breast within 12 years after surgery, compared to only 1 percent for women who had mastectomy. It also showed, however, that mortality rates were low and almost the same after both types of surgery. Women treated with breast-conserving surgery had a 1.0-percent chance of dying from breast cancer disease within 12 years after surgery, and the rate was zero for women who had mastectomy. "Women treated surgically for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) run a very small risk of death from invasive-cancer recurrence," said James R. Waisman, Associate Professor, Medical Oncology, University of Southern California/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, who conducted the study of 839 patients. "Overall survival by treatment, whether mastectomy or radiation or excision, was virtually the same," Dr. Waisman said. Among the 42 women in the study who did have a recurrence in the form of invasive disease in the same breast, within approximately 10 years after surgery, eight had developed metastatic tumors outside of the breast, a sign of advanced cancer. Five of the 839 women had died of their breast cancer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.