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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Having early stage breast cancer at a young age does not necessarily raise your chances of having it come back.
The conventional thinking is that young women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) -- a common form of early breast cancer confined to the mammary ducts -- are more likely to have recurrences than older women with the same diagnosis. But a new report rebuffs this theory.
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DCIS is usually treated with a lumpectomy and radiation therapy for the entire affected breast. Sometimes patients have additional radiation focused just on where the cancer was removed, called a boost.
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center analyzed the records of 440 patients with DCIS who got radiation therapy on their entire breast. Ninety-five-percent also had a radiation boost.
We didnt find a significant difference in recurrence rates based on age, Aruna Turaka, M.D., researcher at the Fox Chase Cancer Center, was quoted as saying. Our study suggests that when treating DCIS with breast-conserving surgery and radiation, very young age plays a smaller role as a contributor to local recurrence than previously suggested.
Results show recurrence for all women was seven percent at 10 years and eight percent at
15 years. At 15 years, the rate was 10 percent in patients 40 or younger, seven percent in those ages 41-54, 11 percent in ages 55-69 and four percent in women 70 and older.
SOURCE: 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Boston, Massachusetts, September 21-25, 2008
The article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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