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Pre-op mammogram reduces the need for mastectomy in women with DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ).

Over 60 per cent of women who have a form of breast cancer in the milk ducts (DCIS) are spared a mastectomy, this latest research published today in the British Journal of Cancer.

Researchers for the Sloane Project** examined how the size of the DCIS – measured by both imaging and pathology – related to the surgeon’s decision of whether to conserve or remove the breast.

They found that, out of 2,500 women who had DCIS detected by breast screening, around 70 per cent of patients had conservation surgery to remove the disease and save the breast.

Of those who had conservation surgery, 71 per cent only needed one operation to remove the cancer, 19 per cent needed a further operation and 10 per cent went on to have a mastectomy.

In situ (non-invasive) breast cancer is confined to the ducts or lobules of the breast and has not spread to the surrounding tissues of the breast or other parts of the body. It is therefore curable if removed completely, but if left untreated may become invasive breast cancer.

This research is part of a large review of screen-detected DCIS and its treatment over the past five years through the Sloane Project, investigating the best treatment methods for DCIS.

Professor Stephen Duffy, Cancer Research UK’s professor of screening at Queen Mary University of London, said that in the screening era, large numbers of breast cancers are diagnosed at the DCIS stage. They have a responsibility to see that these cancers are not overtreated. Therefore it is good to see that the vast majority do not get a mastectomy. There is clearly room for improvement in that we can further reduce the need for re-operation. This problem can and doubtless will be reduced by high-quality pre-operative mammogram.

Source: Cancer Research UK

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