DCIS and Chemo?

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cinnamonsmiles
cinnamonsmiles Member Posts: 779
edited July 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

I was in the CSN chat room and women were saying that they  received chemo for pure DCIS and that chemo is given to DCIS. Another claims Beths gives  chemo for pure DCIS .

Has something changed recently that I missed that Chemo is becoming standard treatment for DCIS.

As far as I understand, chemo is NOT given for DCIS since it is only in the milk ducts.

Can anyone help me out here?

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  • Ariom
    Ariom Member Posts: 6,197
    edited July 2014

    Loveofgardens, Not something I have heard about. I was told Chemo was never indicated for Pure DCIS.

    I hope Beesie might step in and give us some insight into this.

    I would have to wonder if the people discussing this have actually had DCIS which has then been Dx as IDC after final pathology. This seems to happen here quite a lot as people report their original Dx of DCIS as stage 1, after surgery, when their Dx changes. DCIS is always stage 0.

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  • Janet456
    Janet456 Member Posts: 507
    edited July 2014

    It's never given for pure DCIS.  Chemo is given to address the risk of any stray cancer cells spreading, with pure DCIS there is no risk of this as they are all contained within the ducts.

    Like Ariom said they were probably eventually diagnosed with IDC after thinking it was DCIS. xx

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  • cinnamonsmiles
    cinnamonsmiles Member Posts: 779
    edited July 2014

    That's what I thought, too, that they had an invasive component too and explained that if there was IDC in addition to DCIS, then chemo could be given. 

    But two people claimed that DCIS IS given for just chemo. It was very frustrating for me knowing that they were giving out the wrong information. One lady even completely described DCIS as being only in the milk ducts, yet still argued that DCIS got chemo.

    I guess I need to let it go. 

    Thanks for affirming that I know what I am talking.

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  • proudtospin
    proudtospin Member Posts: 5,972
    edited July 2014

    my understanding was the same as well but some surgeries do find other things than DCIS (it is at times just the initial pre-surgery diagnosis) so after the full surgery they may find other junk which might require

    best just to smerk and know they are screwed up and you know the truth~

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  • Jelson
    Jelson Member Posts: 1,535
    edited July 2014

    I agree - no chemo for DCIS. perhaps some who are saying they have pure DCIS and are getting chemo are referring to tamoxifen or AIs as chemo?

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  • april485
    april485 Member Posts: 3,257
    edited July 2014

    Maybe that person had a microinvasion? Do they give chemo for those? I don't think so but I did not have a microinvasion so not sure...

    DCIS never gets chemo from all I have read. Would not do any good since it is not systemic. Oh well, as hard as it is, let it go...easier than arguing!

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  • LAstar
    LAstar Member Posts: 1,574
    edited July 2014

    I know a woman in SF who said she was given chemo for her DCIS.  I tried to ask her if she had something other than DCIS since chemo is not the standard-of-care for DCIS,  but she got defensive and insisted that her surgeon was more cutting-edge since she is in a big city.  So,  of course,  I dropped it. 

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