Do not treat Ductal Carcinoma in Situ A recent Swedish study recommends radiotherapy (RT) for the treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), It is based on flawed statistics which I explain. When I spot a publication that writes:”studies show that adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) lowers the risk of . . .” I become suspicious since RT is one of the most dangerous treatments in medicine. It is clear to me that the risk of radiotherapy is much greater than the risk of DCIS. So what is the real message of this statistic? Follow me to find the flaw. Their statistic shows that that in 30% of women BCS did neither cure, nor prevent new DCIS. They received a needless treatment! Radiotherapy lowered the overall DCIS incidence but did not affect its yearly rate. RT reduced DCIS manifestation, but did not interfere with cancer progression. Both breasts constitute one evolving cancer field. DCIS is a biomarker of this field. Since its yearly incidence rises by 0.01% this is also the incidence rate of the breast cancer field. Radiotherapy did not reduce progression of the field. Treatment of DCIS did not stop. cancer progression. In both arms DCIS continued popping up at the same rate. You may regard RT as a cosmetic (symptomatic) treatment. This DCIS story reveals the poor state of the theory of medicine. It is guided by floppy statistics , and spreads a fatalistic message: No matter what you do it’s all in your genes. DCIS treatment does not cure, nor does it stop cancer progression. Therefore do not treat DCIS! Do you still remember this? “Above all do not harm!”

• published: 28 Nov 2014
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