Screening for ductal carcinoma in situ is effective at preventing breast cancer, according to a new UK study.
Researchers found that for every three cases of DCIS detected, there was one fewer case of invasive breast cancer in the three years after screening.
<! DCIS is detected in the breast screening programme and is regarded as very early form of disease. Patients are treated with surgery and radiotherapy.>
For the study, reported in The Lancet Oncology, researchers studied more than five million women screened over four years in 84 units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Some 4,899 women a year are diagnosed with DCIS in the UK.
The finding that DCIS detection was linked to reduced incidence of breast cancer applied to 90% of the screening units, the researchers say.
Researcher Professor Stephen Duffy, from Queen Mary University of London, said: “There has been controversy over whether ductal carcinoma in situ will ever become invasive cancer.
"This is the first study from the screening programme which suggests that a substantial proportion of DCIS will become invasive if untreated, and it is therefore worth detecting and treating early.
"People can be reassured that detection of DCIS in the breast screening programme is benefitting the patients.”
Screening-based detection of ductal carcinoma in situ and subsequent incidence of invasive interval breast cancers: a retrospective population-based study Lancet Oncology 4 December 2015 [abstract]
Leave a Reply