The purpose of this site is to provide up-to-date research, personal stories, and valuable resources that offer support, treatment options, and peace of mind for women diagnosed with DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ).  

The intention is for DCIS 411 to be interactive – where anyone affected by a DCIS diagnosis can comment on posts and share openly about their experiences, questions, concerns and triumphs.

It is estimated that 60,000+ women annually are diagnosed with DCIS which is considered “stage zero” breast cancer. It is a highly confusing diagnosis. Although it is NOT invasive cancer and most low grade DCIS will never progress, “standard of care” treatments are alarmingly aggressive and invasive.  The majority of women, driven by an overwhelming sense of fear and confusion, rush into lumpectomies, mastectomies, weeks of daily radiation, toxifying drugs with harsh side effects along with a future filled with excessive mammograms and biopsies.  Even within the medical community, there is great controversy and debate around “over treatment” of DCIS.   

 “Despite all the women being diagnosed with early-stage cancer and being treated aggressively to keep their DCIS from spreading, the rate of invasive cancer hasn’t gone down; it’s gone up 25 percent.” – Dr. Laura Esserman.

For nearly 20 years there has been concerns among breast cancer/DCIS experts to take the word “carcinoma” out of the diagnosis to undo the hysteria around DCIS and women seeking prophylactic mastectomies. 

Upon investigation of DCIS, information overload can send one spinning.

This site is simply to make life after a DCIS diagnosis easier.

We all have a choice. We do not need to buy into fear and biased outdated risk statistics. 

Understanding all the information (including the controversies) — enables us to make the very best informed decisions.

Take time to explore DCIS 411 and become empowered!