I just found out Dr. Michael Lagios, a true legend in the field of #DCIS pathology/research, passed away on April 7, 2024.

While I did not agree with everything Dr. Lagios told me when I consulted with him in Nov 2011, it was evident to me he had a sincere desire to help women make better informed decisions and potentially spare them from a mastectomy and or radiation and tamoxifen. He was a true pioneer at the time and he was the co-creator of the Van Nuys Prognostic Index (VNPI) which classified DCIS into different risk categories and served as an aid to the complex treatment decision-making process.

In my case, despite being given a high risk score (8) on the VNPI, I felt emboldened by Dr. Lagios reviewing my pathology slides and downgrading the DCIS cells to LOW grade. In 2010-2011, there were no women online saying NO to surgery, radiation and tamoxifen/AI and I was being heavily pressured by multiple doctors to have a mastectomy and/or more surgery + weeks of radiation and tamoxifen, despite his new determination that my case was downgraded to LOW grade DCIS.

In my effort to help women gain more insights about DCIS, I asked Dr. Lagios if I could post the recording of my 45 min phone consultation with him. He kindly said yes.

In November 2011, at the time of the consultation, I was still new to a lot of the DCIS research and I was asking a lot of questions. My questions then are still some of the same questions being asked by women newly diagnosed with DCIS today.

One of the most important things I learned, and I feel women who have had biopsies or surgeries with positive margins, will feel peace of mind from starts at minute 27:47. Dr Lagios states:

“Clearly as DCIS, it doesn’t have any metastatic ability. Even if you chop it up surgically and leave it in the wound, it will not become invasive. The cells don’t spill out of the cut-through duct, for example, and then start growing in the breast. It requires several mutations of the cancer cell itself before it develops the ability to invade the breast.“

A few weeks later, I took Dr. Lagios’ advice and drove 1.5 hours for a consult with Dr. Mel Silverstein in Irvine, CA. He suggested a reduction (removing the close margin of DCIS) and lift of both breasts (for symmetry).

Next I flew to San Francisco to have a consult with Dr. Laura Esserman in February 2012. She suggested tamoxifen alone for breast cancer prevention.

The reason I was seeking all these opinions was because my doctor in San Diego had told me:

“You’re breast is like spoiled soup. It’s not worth saving.”

My gut instinct was, No way. I would not even consider mastectomy. 

Then she said: 

“Don’t be stupid Donna — at least do 3 weeks of radiation.” 

She also told me, “You don’t want to wait until it’s not treatable.”

After extensive research into #overdiagnosis, I began to research alternative breast imaging and I found Dr. Kevin Kelly who invented Sonocine automated ultrasound.

Despite Dr. Lagios and many experts saying there was more DCIS in my breast and all of them said, “I wouldn’t do NOTHING…”

I declined all of the treatments.

I never had another mammogram.

I never had another breast issue. (13 years later)

Sometimes the patient knows best.

While I defied Dr. Lagios by doing NOTHING (conventional) further, I am forever grateful to him and I hold him in the highest regard.

Thank you Dr. Michael Lagios — for all that you did for me — and for the many thousands of women who came before and after me — seeking to better understand DCIS. May your spirit and wisdom continue to watch over and guide women and physicians alike.

For anyone interested in this topic, please listen to my phone consultation with Dr. Michael Lagios and then spend time reviewing my blog and the HOLISTIC HEALTH path I chose to focus on.