Pre-cancerous education for women 

09:55 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 29, 2005

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

Phyllis Leocha spends her days chasing the news.

But a few months ago, bad news caught up with her. Doctors found a pre-cancerous spot on her breast, a diagnosis known as ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS.

"It was confusing because the doctor said a couple of different things. He said 'cancer,' and then he said 'precancerous,'" she said.

DCIS shows up as a cluster of tiny white spots. Those clusters can spread to other parts of the breast. But in about one-third of cases, DCIS will never turn into cancer.

"But we don't have a crystal ball that tell us who's in which category," said Dr. Beth-Ann Lesnikoski.

Dr. Lesnikoski says that leaves many women uncertain what to do.

"It is pretty confusing. I think it can take a long time to educate a woman as to what her choices are," she said.

Those choices include a mastectomy, a lumpectomy with radiation, and in rare cases, nothing at all. With a mastectomy, there's a 99 percent chance that any potential cancer will not return. With a lumpectomy and radiation, it's about 70 percent. But there's no guarantee if patients decide to forgo treatment.

At first, Leocha wanted to play it completely safe with a mastectomy, but she ultimately opted for a lumpectomy with radiation,

"You eat a meal a bite at a time. You take it a step at a time, and you don't need to go this drastic right away. In retrospect, I'm really happy that I went that route," she said.

Dr. Lesnikoski always recommends treatment for patients with DCIS and emphasizes it's extremely rare for patients to choose no treatment at all.