Many issues in the treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are under study. These include ways to predict which cases of DCIS will progress to invasive breast cancer. This would allow treatment to be targeted to those who are at higher risk of developing invasive cancer.
After discussing the benefits and risks with your health care provider, we strongly encourage you to consider joining a clinical trial of a new treatment for DCIS.
Learn more about clinical trials.
Hormone receptor status and DCIS
Hormone receptor testing of DCIS tumors is becoming more common as the benefits of tamoxifen appear limited to hormone receptor-positive breast cancers [66].
Learn more about hormone receptor status and invasive breast cancer.
Aromatase inhibitors as hormone therapy for DCIS
Women with estrogen receptor-positive DCIS may benefit from hormone therapy. At this time, tamoxifen is the only hormone therapy used to treat these cases of DCIS. The use of aromatase inhibitors (instead of tamoxifen) for DCIS treatment is under study, but results are not yet available [86].
Learn more about aromatase inhibitors.
Lumpectomy with or without radiation therapy
For women with early breast cancer, radiation therapy is given after lumpectomy (also called breast conserving surgery). However, there are questions about the need for radiation therapy after lumpectomy for DCIS.
A pooled analysis of data from four randomized controlled trials found radiation therapy after lumpectomy for DCIS decreased the risk DCIS recurrence, and possibly risk of invasive breast cancer [80]. However, select women with smaller, lower grade DCIS and clean surgical margins, may be candidates for lumpectomy without radiation therapy [66,79].
Our commitment to research
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| At Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, we are committed to ending breast cancer forever by energizing science to find the cures and ensuring quality care for all people, everywhere. Our global research and grants programs are essential driving forces for achieving this mission. A Komen for the Cure grant has touched every major breast cancer breakthrough and major scientists of the past 29 years—including three Nobel Prize winners. Funding for discoveries in genetics and biology has evolved into personalized, less invasive treatments for what was once a “one-treatment-fits-all” disease. Learn more about the exciting research we are funding. |
Updated 01/24/12
