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Hi Nicola,
You asked: Some of what I have read here on these posts regarding this topic of hidden margins is difficult for me to understand. Are these new findings suggesting that new techniques should take place in the initial diagnoses and treatment of early stage breast cancers?
Can someone please explain these findings and what they mean in laymen terms that I can better understand.
I don't think that these findings are suggesting anything yet. They're really just asking more questions, based on their observations about cells in the vicinity of the cancer. Researchers are looking at the cells near the cancer from many different perspectives, because they're realizing that there is interaction between them and the cancer cells themselves. The way that interaction goes probably has much to do with what happens regarding cancer growth. Although they're learning more and more about this, each new understanding brings yet more questions to be answered and it will probably be awhile before this knowledge translates to understanding about better treatment.
The particular study that started this discussion has interesting implications. What if they DID find a biomarker that could "detect the field prior to the development of frank cancer"? What would they DO about that? Mastectomy seems harsh enough for DCIS - would women want that solution for a condition that may or may not someday become cancer? Our perspective (women already diagnosed) may not be the same as the average woman-on-the-street's, and I hope that in addition to looking ways to detect this "early" stage of precancer, they are making progress re: what to do when it's found. Many questions remain - the first that occurs to me is to wonder how many breasts have these abnormal cells (and perhaps the theoretical biomarkers that accompany them), yet never develop cancer? It's interesting information for discussion and brain-play but nowhere near to being useful in real life (yet).
Debbie L.
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