Archives: Month: February 2025
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February 28, 2025
What is Active Monitoring?
Active monitoring, also called active surveillance, is a strategy for managing low-risk DCIS in which a patient has regular imaging (including mammograms, MRIs or ultrasounds) and check-ups with her doctor. It is a strategy that avoids or delays surgery and radiation absent signs of worsening of the DCIS or invasive progression. If concerning changes occur, surgery and other treatments may be warranted. Imaging types and frequency vary, but most common is diagnostic magnification mammograms every 6-months, moving possibly to yearly mammograms for patients with stable imaging results. For some patients, active monitoring can be combined with hormone therapy to further reduce the risk of…
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February 24, 2025
Study Suggests Some DCIS Patients May Safely Avoid Surgery with Personalized Hormone Treatment
A new study published last week in Breast Cancer Research has found that certain types of DCIS may respond well to hormone therapy before surgery, and some patients might even be able to avoid surgery altogether in the future. The study explored how genomic features influence the response of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) DCIS to pre-surgical aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy—specifically, letrozole—in postmenopausal women. Researchers gave letrozole, a hormone-blocking pill, to postmenopausal women with ER+ DCIS for 6 months before surgery, and then looked at how the tumors changed using imaging, lab tests, and genetic analysis of the tumors. The study used genetic testing to predict which tumors would respond, helping tailor treatment to each…