Donna & DCIS in the Media
in the Media
Our Media page shares interviews, podcasts, documentaries, news stories, and research discussions featuring DCIS 411 Founder Donna Pinto and other experts questioning the conventional approach to ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
Through national media coverage and educational conversations, this page highlights the growing awareness surrounding overdiagnosis, overtreatment, active monitoring, informed consent, safer breast imaging, and the need for more personalized care.
Explore years of media appearances, patient advocacy work, and evolving scientific perspectives that challenge fear-based messaging and encourage women to make informed, individualized health decisions.
At DCIS 411, our mission is to amplify balanced information, support women navigating a DCIS diagnosis, and advocate for a future of breast health care rooted in transparency, wellness, and patient empowerment.
Donna Pinto, Joel Fuhrman, Cara Fuhrman, Samantha Harris
Keeping Abreast with Dr Jenn Simmons: DCIS, Overdiagnosis, and Reclaiming Women’s Health with Donna Pinto.
Dr. Jenn Simmons is a former board-certified breast surgeon who spent many years practicing conventional breast surgery before transitioning to integrative oncology and functional medicine. Through her work and public education efforts, she has become a vocal advocate for reexamining the current approach to breast cancer screening and treatment, particularly regarding mammograms and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
Dr. Simmons believes that routine mammography can contribute to significant overdiagnosis and overtreatment by detecting abnormalities, including many cases of low-risk DCIS, that may never progress to life-threatening disease. She emphasizes the importance of informed consent, individualized risk assessment, understanding the limitations and potential harms of screening, and considering safer or supplemental imaging options when appropriate.
Click links for more videos and news articles:
What to Know Before Saying Yes to Routine Screenings, EPOCH TIMES HEALTH, January 7, 2026
Is it cancer? Delivering PRECISION in the determination of breast cancer risk, Science, 11 Oct 2024
PRECISION: the team that took on lethal versus non-lethal cancers challenge
Page 14-17 “When to Skip Surgery” — CURE Magazine, Oct 2020
“In a study of 100,000 women who were followed for two decades, patients who’d been diagnosed with and treated for zero-stage breast cancer ultimately had about the same chance of dying from the disease as the general population.” – The growing case for doing less: How harmless cancers are being overdiagnosed in America, FORTUNE, October 2, 2023
‘Over-diagnosis and over-treatment of breast cancer is a travesty in women’s healthcare’ My Story: Donna Pinto, May 2019
“For Donna, “over-diagnosis and over-treatment of breast cancer is a real travesty in women’s healthcare. Many women are not aware they may have been over-diagnosed and over-treated. Fear sets in instantly with the word ‘carcinoma’ and a cascade of events happens quickly. There are often severe physical, emotional and financial hardships women and their families experience – and many of these women have or had a condition that was not a threat to their health or life.”
Breast cancer patients seek out more information, Las Vegas Review Journal, Nov, 2019
“The majority of women, driven by an overwhelming sense of fear and confusion, rush into lumpectomies, mastectomies, weeks of daily radiation, toxic drugs with harsh side effects along with a future filled with excessive mammograms and biopsies,” said Donna Pinto, the administrator of DCIS 411. Even within the medical community, there is great controversy about the “overtreatment” of DCIS.
“We are told that 50 percent believe it is a cancer precursor and 50 percent believe it will never progress,” Pinto said. “There is now a movement among experts to take the word ‘carcinoma’ out of the diagnosis” to undo some of the hysteria.
“We all have a choice. We do not need to buy into the fear and hysteria. … No matter what anyone says, only you will know what is the right path.”
Stage Zero Breast Cancer Patient Believes She was Over-treated
Is Stage Zero Breast Cancer Really Cancer? Women Share Their Doubts
Is Stage Zero breast cancer really cancer? 7 ON YOUR SIDE investigates the controversy
San Diego woman: Stage zero cancer treatment deformed me, May 2017
Medical trial could settle breast cancer treatment debate, Jul, 2017
‘Why I Refused to Get Treatment When I Was Diagnosed with Breast Cancer’
“Everyone has the association that cancer is a death sentence.”
ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE?
Why Women With Early Signs of Breast Cancer Are Doing Nothing About It
Preventing unnecessary breast cancer treatment
“Pledged by each newly trained doctor around the world, the fundamental message of the Hippocratic Oath is ‘first do no harm’. But according to Wesseling, when it comes to treating DCIS, doctors can inadvertently do a lot of harm.
Waiting and watching with ‘Stage 0’ breast cancer put to nationwide test, Washington Post, April 29, 2017
Discusses the COMET Study I am working on with a team of patient advocates and top cancer doctors and researchers.
Is ‘watchful waiting’ safe with breast cancer?
DCIS Over-treatment — Mainstream News Highlights
The media madness began in August 2015 following the publication of the most extensive study to date on DCIS in the prestigious medical Journal JAMA Oncology. The study of over 100,000 women concluded there was no “life-saving” benefit to “standard protocol” for DCIS (surgery, radiation and drugs). “The analysis reinforces a growing belief that current treatment regimens for this condition are overly aggressive or outright unnecessary.”
KPBS Radio & TV, August 24, 2015, Study Prompts San Diego Doctors, Patients To Question Breast Cancer Treatment Strategy TOP STORY on Midday Edition — a LIVE 16 minute radio interview and 5 minute TV segment featuring Donna along with an oncologist from Sharp Hospital in San Diego.
TIME Magazine, October 1, 2015: Why Doctors Are Rethinking Breast-Cancer Treatment Donna was interviewed via phone for 45 minutes for this article. She discussed how she was “blindsided” when given the diagnosis, yet she knew intuitively the standard aggressive DCIS protocol was not right. Unfortunately this article focuses on “doing nothing” and does not mention the importance of a pro-active cancer prevention and lifestyle plan. See Donna’s post “Active Surveillance P L U S — Donna’s Vision“
Study challenges status quo in breast cancer treatment Donna’s story is featured in this FRONT PAGE San Diego Union Tribune article.
‘Stage Zero’ Breast Cancer: New Study Casts Doubt on Early Intervention, Good Morning America, August 21, 2015:
The debate over early breast cancer treatment,
CBS TV segment, November 3, 2015
Doubt Is Raised Over Value of Surgery for Breast Lesion at Earliest Stage, August 20, 2015
A Breast Cancer Surgeon Who Keeps Challenging the Status Quo, September, 28, 2015
Rethinking the Standard for Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Treatment
DCIS dilemma: Dr. Laura Esserman podcast, Health News Review
Annual Mammograms Won’t Lower Your Risk Of Dying From Breast Cancer. Here’s What Will. , Nov 5, 2015
We should look less hard for cancer, November 20, 2015
THE DANGER OF DCIS, THE BREAST “CANCER” THAT’S OFTEN NOT
June 8, 2015
Time to change how we think about cancer
February 4, 2015
Interview with Donna: The Dilemma of Overdiagnosis, Healthy Happy You Podcast with Connie Bowman, Jan 23, 2015
Sharing my story for Nutripro Infomercial , 2013
Donna’s Journey: DCIS — “Stage Zero” Breast Cancer — Overdiagnosis & Overtreatment, 2016