“88% of DCIS is Overtreated.” — A Breast Surgeon Explains the Evidence
Over 60,000 woman every year are diagnosed with non-invasive Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) — commonly called “stage zero” breast cancer. Most are rushed into surgery, radiation & drugs. Most are not informed about overdiagnosis & overtreatment. DCIS 411 amplifies research educating women to make more informed decisions. Listen to this 1 minute clip explaining […]
CheatSheet — Stay Healthy & Avoid DCIS (“Stage Zero Breast Cancer”) Overdiagnosis & Overtreatment
Every year I give a personal update and I try to simplify information based on the latest research, technology, and common sense! Think of the image above like a CheatSheet. It’s a one-page summary of 16 years of insights, endless hours of research, hundreds of blog posts, nutrition studies/certification, and nonprofit advocacy! To access links, […]
Donna’s 16 Year Update — Smashing Myths, Advocating for Change & My Nonprofit Mission
Despite being told, “Your breast is like spoiled soup; it isn’t worth saving,” I declined all further “standard of care” treatment recommendations in 2011. I said good-bye forever to fear-mongering doctors and forged my own path to health and well-being. It’s now 16 years later. I never developed invasive cancer. I became a passionate advocate […]
DCIS — New BMJ Study Supports Active Monitoring
A new study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) July 2025, adds to growing evidence that many women with a DCIS diagnosis may want to consider an active monitoring approach.
Mammograms… Are Women Given Informed Consent?
I think we can all agree, when it comes to our health, we would prefer clear information on risks and benefits vs being oversold. But, when it comes to mammograms, most women do not even realize they have NOT been given informed consent. Many say they feel encouraged, pressured, and even coerced into scheduling a […]
Presidential Proclamation on Healthy Life Habits for Cancer Prevention
An official Presidential Proclamation declaring April 2024 as the inaugural National Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Month states: “Healthy life habits — like maintaining a healthy body weight and reducing exposure to tobacco smoke — can prevent certain cancers, so we are working to help all Americans get and stay healthy. Our National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, […]
Lumpectomy’s Little Secret: Women Uninformed about High Re-Excision Rates & Mastectomies for DCIS
Women are often told lumpectomy is an easy surgery. One and done. Yet… more often than not, this is NOT the case. In fact, studies report up to 70% of the time, a 2nd surgery is needed due to “positive margins” for DCIS. It happened to me in 2011. After a DCIS diagnosis in January […]
On a Mission to Help Women Avoid Harms of Mammography Screening — Donna Pinto Shares Her Story with Dr. Jenn Simmons — Breast Surgeon Turned Functional Medicine Doctor
Thanks to Dr. Jenn Simmons for inviting me on her podcast. My story is one story among tens of thousands of women harmed every year. Please watch this video and share with your women friends and family… You can also listen via podcast here. When we know better, we do better. #BeW I S E is a […]
DCIS is NOT Breast Cancer — An Online Support Group Leading a Paradigm Shift
A paradigm shift is defined as “an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.”
DCIS – Is Not Breast Cancer! — an online support group created in 2020 — has quickly attracted over 1.5k women with approximately 25 new requests to join each week.
Breast Imaging Options and Anti-Cancer Diet / Lifestyle
Ultrasound vs Mammogram Discussion on Good Morning America: Identical twin sisters — both had clear mammograms — yet both had INVASIVE cancers that were found on ULTRASOUND. INVASIVE cancers were missed on their mammograms!! A 2009 Study showed ULTRASOUND found 97% of cancers vs 76% found on mammograms. Watch video: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/video/embed/73446936 “The mammogram did not […]
Awesome Interview!! Inspiration for DCIS 411 — Informed Choices and Healthy Living Over Fear Fear Fear!
Cynthia Toussant and I discuss how we KNEW IN OUR GUT something wasn’t right with the immediate rush to surgically remove DCIS!
DCIS Over-Diagnosis & Over-Treatment: New Facebook Group
Patients, researchers, advocates, journalists and organizations need to work together to understand and communicate better about this serious women’s health issue! Please join a new Facebook Group: DCIS Over-diagnosis and Over-treatment A forum for information, discussion, support, research, education, awareness and advocacy focused on DCIS over-diagnosis and over-treatment.
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 31 — Trick or Truth?
“Galileo’s head was on the block. His crime was looking up the truth.” – Indigo Girls Did you know… Clever TRICKS are used to manipulate the TRUTH about mammography screening. The TRICKS are explained in a Time Magazine article, This One Graphic Will Change the Way You Look at Breast Cancer Screening written by Gerd […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 26 — FEAR-MONGERING
Did you know… Fear-mongering is defined as the action of deliberately arousing public fear or alarm about a particular issue. Thanks to Dr Kenny Lin for his blog post in Common Sense Family Doctor : Fear-mongering in thyroid and breast cancer screening “From the 1980s-era American Cancer Society print advertisement that lectured women, “If you […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 22 — Screening Doesn’t Save Lives
Did you know… Professor Peter C Gøtzsche shared on Twitter today: “Pink month lies: “Early detection saves lives and breasts.” It doesn’t, and because of overdiagnosis you will reduce your risk of becoming a breast cancer patient by one-third if you ignore summons for mammography screening.” Be sure to watch this important video in its […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 21 — Biased Guidelines & Marketing
Did you know… Women can not possibly make an informed decision when they are bombarded with slick marketing campaigns from groups with “specialty bias.” In Professional Societies Should Abstain From Authorship of Guidelines and Disease Definition Statements: “Hundreds and thousands of designated guideline coauthors share in the society-wide power game across a large portfolio of […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 20 — Misleading Statistics
Did you know… Statistics are often used for breast cancer screenings and treatments that mislead the public into thinking the benefit is way better than it actually is. “We often hear news reports that something has been found to reduce the risk of breast cancer, or reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer. These […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 19 — Celebrities & Mammography Advice
Did you know…. #1. Companies use celebrities to aggressively market 3D mammograms, although there’s no evidence they save lives. In July 2016, Health News Review wrote: Sheryl Crow hawks 3D mammograms with fear and false hope “It may not be her favorite mistake, but it was a mistake nonetheless for the singer and breast cancer […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 18 — Fear vs Facts
Did you know… Your breasts might kill you? That’s the message put forth by the video below… urging women to get a mammogram every year starting at 40. Where is the information about the risks, harms and limitations of mammography? Be WISE information and videos helps women understand potential harms of breast cancer screening. Donna […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 17 — Radical Remission
Did you know… Over 1500 cases of “radical remission” have been analyzed and documented by Dr. Kelly Turner, author of New York Times bestseller, Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds. “Radical remission” is a term that refers to remission that occurs either without conventional medical treatment, after conventional treatment has failed to work, or […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 15 — Toxic “Forever Chemicals” in Pink Post-It Notes May Increase Breast Cancer Risk
Did you know… PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down, and evidence shows that even very low levels of PFAS exposure is not safe for human health. Please consider joining Breast Cancer Action in their campaign to call out corporate giant 3M for pinkwashing while continuing to produce and use toxic PFAS. 3M says their […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 14 — Some Doctors are Paid $$$ for Persuading Women to Get Screening Mammograms
Did you know… Some doctors are given cash bonuses for persuading women to get screening mammograms. One ethical doctor published a paper in the British Medical Journal, April 3, 2019: Helen Salisbury: Should I persuade patients to have mammograms? “Our practice has recently been invited by the local clinical commissioning group to take part in […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 11 — It’s Ok to Opt Out of Mammograms
Did you know… It’s Ok to Opt Out of Mammograms. In this must-read article, science writer, Christie Aschwanden lists key points (see below) of some of the “little known” harms of screening. She encourages women to review a chart on “Benefits and Harms of Screening Mammography.” Key points from article: While 61 percent of women […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 9 — Too Many Unnecessary Biopsies
Did you know… 1.6 million breast biopsies are performed each year in the US, and approximately 80% are found to be benign. Why so many biopsies? Fear of malpractice influences radiologists to order a biopsy of “anything and everything that shows up on the mammogram.” – The Untold Message of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, by […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 6 — Pinkwashing 101
Did you know… The definition of Pinkwasher: A company or organization that claims to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product, but at the same time produces, manufactures and/or sells products that are linked to the disease. Breast Cancer Action, coined the term pinkwashing and created a Think Before You Pink® campaign. […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 5 — Lifestyle Medicine
Did you know… More than 70,000 breast cancer cases a year—40% of all cases—could be prevented with lifestyle measures. – American Institute for Cancer Research Food is a powerful, yet largely untapped resource for disease prevention. Many Diseases Are Preventable Science shows many foods can prevent, halt or even reverse cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 4 — Spinning Statistics
Did you know… Statistics about breast cancer screening can be confusing and misleading. Women may hear… “Regular mammograms reduce breast cancer deaths by 20%.” Sounds pretty good… But how many lives do they really save? Only 1 in 1,000! Here is an excellent short video explaining this: To receive an email alert with future posts: […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 3 — $$$ for Metastasis
Today is dedicated to my dear friend Sandie Walters (*see below) Did you know… Despite billions raised for awareness and early detection… “There is no actual decrease in the number of women and men dying from breast cancer each year. It’s still holding steady at about 40,000. To put it another way, 110 Americans will […]
Active Surveillance P L U S (Proactive – Lifestyle – Understanding – Support) — Donna’s Vision
“Active surveillance” of a “potential cancerous condition” through periodic medical imaging in itself can be extremely stressful — and the anxiety, worry, and fear of cancer developing or progressing may not go away as time goes on. Active Surveillance P L U S is my vision. It is a holistic approach to cancer prevention, […]
Donna’s Official “Better-than-Awareness” Checklist
“Breast cancer is a dominant fear for many women. Fortunately, it’s also largely a preventable disease with the right diet and a healthy lifestyle. Contrary to what most people hope for, early detection by mammography causes more harm than good. Radical surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are brutal remedies universally prescribed to women with breast cancer, […]
The Downside of Mammograms – What Your Doctor May Not Be Telling You
Peter Gotzsche, M.D., author of Mammography Screening: Truth, Lies and Controversy, states, “Screening saves probably one life for every 2,000 women who go for a mammogram. But it harms 10 others. Cancerous cells that will go away or never progress to disease in the woman’s lifetime are excised with surgery and sometimes (six times in 10) […]
On the Radio — Donna on “High Energy Health”
It was an honor to share my story and passion with Dawson Church on his radio show “High Energy Health.” To listen, click here and scroll down to 9/8/2016 Donna Pinto – Give Wellness. Alternatively, click here for direct link to the mp3. Thanks for listening!! 🙂 Donna Dawson Church, PhD, Founder of the National Institute for […]