For Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer, Guessing Game May Be Over
The guessing game is over. In May researchers discovered 12 genes that, when expressed, can predict fairly accurately the chances of a recurrence for woman already diagnosed with ductal cell carcinoma (DCIS), or non-invasive breast cancer eliminating treatment that may not be necessary. I wish this had been around when I was diagnosed with the disease. Instead, I had radiation but was ultimately forced to have the major surgery most women dread, anyway. I did have a recurrence, which is what led to the surgery, but looking back, doctors think the cancer cells were there all along, just not thought to be significant. Scary. Had these additional cells been spotted with my first bunch of abnormal cells, I most likely would have immediately been faced with a mastectomy, but I would have avoided six weeks of radiation that can cause cancer in the future, and which pretty much ruined my reconstruction. Radiation stretches and tightens the skin and...