Click links for videos and news articles:
Page 14-17 “When to Skip Surgery” — CURE Magazine, Oct 2020
Click to access CURE_BREAST_OCT1020-final.pdf
‘Over-diagnosis and over-treatment of breast cancer is a travesty in women’s healthcare’ My Story: Donna Pinto
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
‘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
“We need to find a way to make more precise predictions about this condition.” – Dr. Jelle Wesseling, Netherlands Cancer Institute
“This research has the potential to allow women with DCIS to make a more informed choice for themselves.” – Donna Pinto, Patient Advocate
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.
In this podcast you’ll hear the voices of a health care journalist who has covered DCIS, a patient (Donna Pinto), whose journey with DCIS affected her so deeply she decided to become an advocate, and two breast surgeons who are at the forefront of redefining what DCIS is, and how it can be treated. July, 10, 2017
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
DCIS 411 