I read an interview today that was done with Dr. Laura Esserman a famous breast cancer surgeon on the west coast. Among other things she makes the point that a lot of doctors are still arguing about data that is 40 years old when it comes to breast cancer treatment.
I found her comments refreshing and thought provoking. Here is one regarding the condition DCIS that is often treated as "breast cancer":
"Think
about cervical cancer for a minute. We used to call it "cervical carcinoma
in situ," but they changed the name to "cervical intraepithelial
neoplasia" (CIN) because it made people pause and not be so aggressive.
Where are we now? If you watch CIN1 for a year, 50% of those lesions go away.
This is the lesson. It's not, "If you do not do this, your breast is going
to come off and you are going to die." We have to stop telling people that
because we have no basis in fact for that. All we know is, this might or might
not progress. In itself, it's just a risk factor. The reason why the
pathologist probably cannot tell the difference between atypia and low-grade
DCIS is because biologically they are the same thing. They are a risk factor."
Here is the link to the interview if you would like to read or watch it:
