DCIS Treatment

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jball13
jball13 Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
My mother, who is 70 years old, was recently diagnosed with DCIS in her left breast. I have the following questions on her treatment:

Her doctor told her that if she has masectomy, she would not need subsequent radiation treatment but that if she has a lumpectomy she would need subsequent radiation treatment. Is that the accepted opinion or is radiation treatment recommended for both masectomies and lumpectomies?

I have read that a heavy doze of radiation immediately following surgery is just as effective as the extended radiation treatment. Is that the accepted opionion?

Thanks.

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  • epgnyc
    epgnyc Member Posts: 137
    #2
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    Standard treatment for lumpectomy is to follow it with radiation, and for this reason some women opt for mastectomy which rarely requires it. Your mom's doctor is correct. There is a new type of radiation -- I belive it's called brachytherapy -- which gives a much higher dosage of radiation over a very short time period (something like 5 days I think) by planting seeds in the breast. Not everywhere offers this type of treatment, which is still pretty new. I only know one woman who has had it and she had a lot of problems. Good luck with your decision.
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #3
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    Hi! I had DCIS in my Right breast going on 5 years ago. I initially had a lumpectomy and was planning on a course of radiation. The margins on the path report showed there were still some cells so I was given the choice to leave it alone and have the radiation and hope it got all the cells or to have the mastectomy with no radiation and immediate reconstruction and know that the cells are gone. I chose the mastectomy and reconstruction. I'm very happy I did it that way .I'll be 5 years cancer free on Sept. 11. Ultimately, your mom has to decide which way is best for her. I'm very happy with my decision. Good luck. Let us know what she decided to do and how she's doing. HUGS!! Cathy
  • tlmac
    tlmac Member Posts: 272 Member
    #4
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    I was diagnosed stage II in January 2003. I chose mastectomy and one of the reasons was to avoid radiation. My lymph nodes were clear so the mastectomy made radiation unnecessary. I'm 2 1/2 years cancer free and counting. I'll keep your mom in my prayers.
    terri
  • inkblot
    inkblot Member Posts: 698 Member
    #5
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    Hi jball13. With lumpectomy, radiation is almost always recommended. However, I've known women with DCIS, whose docs did not recommend radiation, post surgery. It just depends upon the doctor, the woman's wishes and her particular case.

    As epgnyc noted, there are options beyond the traditional lengthy weekday radiation treatments.
    One is called Mammosite. It's very similar to the brachytherapy and is done in 3 to 5 days. You can research the differences in these two methods by typing "mammosite" and "brachytherapy" into any good search engine on the internet, such as google. Tons of info out there, so don't get overwhelmed. After getting some detailed info, talk with your Mom's doc about it. The availability of it seems to depend on your geographic location. Here, in the Northeast, it's readily available, within a reasonable drive, but this doesn't seem to be the case in certain other parts of the country.

    The bottom line is what your Mom prefers. I know women who have had brachytherapy and mammosite and the only difference is that with brachytherapy, several rods, about the size of a drinking straw, must be inserted and this can be somewhat painful, as well as leaving scaring, but delivers the same dosage as mammosite, which uses a device, inserted at surgery. So, it's important that your Mom decide before her surgery, which method of rads she prefers to have.

    Best wishes to your Mom, which ever route she decides to take. Keep in mind that the good news is that DCIS is often considered less aggressive and less threatening than invasive bc and the prognosis is often excellent in comparison.

    Love, light and laughter,
    Ink
  • jball13
    jball13 Member Posts: 2
    #6
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    I've passed your responses on to my mother. Thanks for your concern.

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