Newly diagnosed w DCIS in right and LCIS in left

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idris
idris Member Posts: 1
edited June 2014 in Just Diagnosed


After finding a lump on self-breast exam in my right breast, I went in ahead of schedule for my 6-mo recall for diagnostic mammos/US...for past 2 years I have been watched closely due to polycystic breasts. Unfortunately, this time around it wasn't a cyst. Discovered DCIS, stage 0 in right breast and a suspicious area was biopsied on left, but came out with LCIS (this was a separate biopsy last week). I also know that I am ER-, PR+ and should add that I have a history of RA and am BRCA-, along with experiencing pain (I described to my doctor like sciatica) in my right breast on and off for 6 months. Going into meet with surgeon on Friday to discuss all (with actually a second opinion next Monday). My surgeon initially said lumpectomy with possible radiation therapy to follow but I am not sure. How unreasonable is it to wait on radiation until my next 6-mo recall of mammos/US to see if everything looks normal (now in April)? Kind of overwhelmed at this point as this has been a long drawn out process (found lump on Oct 1). Not sure what questions to ask at this point and so looking for some guidance from this board. Thanks in advance.

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  • beacon800
    beacon800 Member Posts: 922
    edited December 2013

    The radiation will only be for the breast with dcis, not the lcis side.  In general it is advisable to use radiation on lumpectomy treated dcis as the patients have a lower recurrence rate.  This is a long term protection, so a 6 month normal mammo would  not be the most important part.

    If you do have medical issues that mitigate the use of radiation, you doctor may have other suggestions.  There is a lot of new research in this area and the trend is to less treatment, not more.  So maybe there are some good options if you want to avoid radiation.  It may also depend on the aggressiveness of the cancer cells you have. 

    There is a poster on these forums:  "Beesie" who is totally expert on DCIS.  Recommend you search for her posts or even PM. 

    Hope the best for you (((hugs)))



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  • ballet12
    ballet12 Member Posts: 981
    edited December 2013


    Hi idris, sorry you are having to deal with this. It would not be standard of care to wait for the 6 month follow-up mammo to decide on radiation. The assumption is that the lumpectomy removed the DCIS cells, and the purpose of the radiation is to get rid of any stray cells that might remain. These would probably be microscopic, so they wouldn't likely be visible on the mammo. Many facilities actually have a window of time in which they feel it is acceptable to wait, between the surgery and the radiation. Due to scheduling issues, I actually had a gap of 2 1/2 months from the last surgery to the start of radiation, but I can't imagine that they would want to wait much longer. So, it's just a matter of whether you and your team feel that radiation is appropriate in your case. As beacon said (above), there is a move toward less treatment, so some individuals with small areas of low grade DCIS are able to forego radiation, but if the DCIS is intermediate or high grade and if there's a lot of it, it's less likely that the MD's would OK not having radiation. I also recommend reading all of the general information amassed by Beesie on DCIS and it's treatment. Keep us posted on the consults with the surgeons.

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