Dr. Mamounas on Predicting the Risk of DCIS Recurrence

Eleftherios P. Mamounas, MD, MPH, medical director, Aultman Hospital Cancer Center, Breast Committee Chairman, National Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, discusses the 12-gene assay used to predict the risk of recurrence in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

The DCIS Score test was validated in the ECOG 5194 study that enrolled 327 patients with all grades of DCIS. Patients on the trial had been treated with breast conserving surgery, had wide negative margins, and did not receive radiation treatment. The prognostic abilities of the DCIS Score were proven by the study, which showed it was a strong predictor of local recurrence risk.

Mamounas explains that the test was able to predict recurrence above and beyond traditional factors, such as grade, age, and tamoxifen administration. The traditional factors maintain a prognostic ability and the DCIS Score should be incorporated alongside the traditional factors.