How long did you waited for surgery?

Hi, I am 30 and I was diagnosed with DCIS at the end of October, after that they did some labs and found other masses on the breast and a second biopsy found more DCIS but not invasive cancer. I got my mastectomy scheduled for January, two 1/2 months after diagnosis, is that a normal time to wait for surgery? I always thought cancer was supposed to be treated as fast as possible but obvoiusly I know that doctors have other patients too. I just wanted to know how much is an appropriate time to wait for surgery

Actually, while a breast cancer diagnosis feels like an emergency to us, usually it is not a medical emergency. Breast cancer tends to be slow growing - I've read that most cancers are in the breast 3-5 years before they become large enough to be detected. Some even longer than that. So in that context, 2 1/2 months is not a long time.

From what I've seen on this site, generally the average time from diagnosis for invasive cancer is 5-6 weeks. There are exceptions of course, if someone has a particularly large or aggressive cancer. DCIS is non-invasive, so presents less risk than invasive cancer. In my case, my DCIS was found during an excisional (surgical) biopsy. I also had a microinvasion of IDC. That first surgery left me with involved margins all around, and a subsequent MRI showed that there was a lot more DCIS still in my breast. My DCIS was grade 3 with comedonecrosis. Between getting a second opinion, getting the MRI, having another biopsy (other breast; benign result), changing surgeons and coordinating surgery schedules between the breast surgeon and plastic surgeon, I went from a diagnosis on September 15th to MX surgery on November 30th. In the end, a lot more high grade DCIS was found, but no more invasive cancer and my nodes were clear. So the wait - which didn't concern my surgeon at all - had no impact on my diagnosis.

If you had a larger area of invasive cancer, I would think that 2 1/2 months would be pushing it, but with DCIS I don't think most doctors would be concerned. How large is your area of DCIS estimated to be, and what is the grade and hormone status?

I agree that surgery for DCIS is not an emergency. Although I had IDC as well as DCIS I waited about 2 months for surgery because of the need to coordinate schedules between surgeon and plastic surgeon. Truly, I would not be concerned unless it is causing you great stress but even then, a better understanding of DCIS will help ease your stress. I know the desire to get it out “now” can be great but even with low grade IDC such as I had, it’s not an emergency

I agree with what the others have said. I had Grade 3 DCIS with comedo necrosis initially thought to be 5 cm. The first surgeon I saw said I had some time to think about what I wanted to do (surgery type decision) though he did not want me waiting too long b/c it was high grade, large (since then we realized much of it was benign and other precancerous stuff), comedo necrosis they expected to find some invasion. that was true for the second surgeon I saw as well. I was diagnosed July 21 with surgery Aug. 31. Had I gone another month it would not have made a difference medically, other than maybe emotionally...