According to a new study of women with early stage, localized breast cancer new patterns and risk factors for invasive disease have been identified that may influence how patients are treated.
Data from 37,692 DCIS and 4,490 LCIS patients from 1988 to 2002 was reviewed by Cancer Research Centre in Seattle to identify demographic and tumour characteristics that are risk factors for invasive disease and the pattern of invasive disease that DCIS and LCIS develop.The authors noted that LCIS patients were at greater risk than DCIS patients for invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). This infers LCIS to be a precursor lesion to ILC, rather than simply a risk factor. Specifically, LCIS patients were five times more likely to develop ILC and slightly less likely to develop invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) compared to DCIS patients. Additional finding was that LCIS patients had higher rates of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer, but similar rates of contralateral invasive breast cancer, compared to DCIS patients suggesting that "localized treatment for LCIS may be warranted.
Among DCIS patients, women under 50 years old as well as Hispanic and African-American women were at greater risk for advanced stage invasive breast cancer, which is a more lethal form of the disease, than older and Caucasian women.
This study can be a potential guiding light in in situ treatments but also risk stratification and follow-up recommendations for women with early stage breast cancer.
