High recurrence with DCIS??

Yayme

Hi Ladies,

I have been noticing and cant help but feel a bit worried about the recurrence rate I am seeing with DCIS turning in to IDC later. I have chilling story that I feel I need to share as this just happeneded to a friend. about 2 years ago my friend was DX with DCIS, did have a MX to the one breast, no treatment as is the current standard of care in her case. 2 years later she devedloped IDC TN in the other breast. Just on a whim she sent out her current pathology for her current breast cancer, and sent out her pathology from 2 years ago for a second opinion. When it camce back, the path specimans from 2 years ago showed that they believed that it was NOT DCIS but IDC covered by DCIS and sent stains out to prove their theory which was then confirmed. Her ONC said that sometimes IDC can hide beneath the DCIS, so some pathologists may not pick it up. I know this is an area that is still in a grey area for Oncology...to treat or not to treat DCIS or small tumors for that fact, there is an ongoing debate and studies, however, until they get their act together second opinion of pathology may help some of us...just a thought...knowledge is power....

NSJ2

What does the "TN" stand for in IDC TN please?

Beesie

Don't make any judgements about the DCIS recurrence rate, or the likelihood of developing a second breast cancer, based on what you read here.  Remember that for the most part, the only women who come back here are the ones who have a recurrence or a new problem.  So if 100 women are diagnosed and 10 have a recurrence or new cancer, about 89 of the women will be off living their lives and won't ever be heard from here again, 1 who doesn't have a recurrence or new cancer might stick around for a while or check in occasionally, and all 10 who have a recurrence or develop a new cancer will come back.  So of the 100, only about 11 will come back and 10 of those will have a recurrence or new cancer.  That sure makes it look like it's commonplace to be diagnosed again, but it's really not. 

As for DCIS hiding IDC, yes that can happen.  It's called an occult invasion.  It happens, but it's rare.  And if the IDC is missed, it usually means that it's tiny.  It gets removed along with all the DCIS and it never has any impact on the patient.  For a very tiny amount of IDC, there usually is no difference in the treatment plan. 

But, because this can happen, it's always a good idea to get a second reading of your pathology slides.  

NSJ, TN is triple negative.  ER-/PR-/HER2-. 

NSJ2

Thanks Beesie.