Stage 0 breast cancer treatment options

When needed, treatment for stage 0 breast cancer is very successful. This very early stage of the disease is not always actually cancer but is often a precancerous condition. Treatment is not always needed, and close observation may be enough. Treatments differ depending on what kind of stage 0 cancer you have. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), or intraductal carcinoma, is one type. With this condition abnormal cells appear in the ducts of the breast. Sometimes these cells become cancerous. That is why it is important to get treatment immediately. Here is a list of the typical treatments:

• Surgery is standard. With smaller tumours you might have a lumpectomy where only the abnormal cells and some of the tissue are removed. Some women choose a mastectomy and the entire breast is removed. Mastectomy is often recommended if the DCIS area is large, high grade or affects more than one area of the breast. After a mastectomy, you might decide to have breast reconstruction surgery.
• Radiotherapy is standard treatment after a lumpectomy. Radiotherapy attacks any abnormal cells that might have been missed and reduces the risk of another cancer.
• Hormone therapy with tamoxifen after surgery may also help prevent cancer from developing in the same or opposite breast. However tamoxifen is only effective if the cancer cells have receptors for the female hormone oestrogen on their surface - this can be tested.

Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) is the other type of stage 0 cancer. LCIS develops when abnormal cells appear in the lobes of the breast. Because most women with LCIS will not develop cancer, some will never need treatment. So doctors now usually recommend that women with LCIS have breast examinations every six to 12 months, and mammograms every one to two years. These examinations should pick up any changes in the breast at the earliest stage, which can then be treated if appropriate. Here are some treatment options:

• Hormone therapy with tamoxifen to lower the risk of developing cancer.
• Bilateral mastectomy - the removal of both breasts - is another option. Some women choose this approach because they are worried about getting cancer. They might have certain risk factors such as a strong family history of breast cancer. After surgery you might choose to get breast reconstruction surgery. However experts think that a bilateral mastectomy is a more extreme approach than most women usually need.