Clinicopathological Characteristics and Factors Affecting Recurrence of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ in Korean Women

Purpose: As breast cancer screening becomes more popular in Korea, incidence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of breast has increased to more than 10% of all breast cancer diagnosed. We aimed to show the clinicopathological characteristics and factors affecting recurrence of DCIS in Korean women. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 152 DCIS patients who underwent breast conserving surgery in Seoul National University Hospital between January 1995 and December 2005. Results: Mean age at diagnosis was 46.7 years (24 to 66 years). Mean follow up duration of the patients was 73.82 months (0.80 to 168.43 months). Recurrence of disease occurred in 19 (12.5%) patients: 2 in contralateral breast, 15 in ipsilateral breast, and 2 in axilla. One patient showed ipsilateral breast recur after excision of axillary metastasis. Eight (42.11%) of all recurrence was infiltrating ductal carcinoma and one of them showed bone metastasis during follow up. In an multivariate analysis of factors affecting recurrence, younger age at diagnosis and omission of radiotherapy had significant association with recurrence (p=0.005 and p=0.002, respectively). However, tumor size (p=0.862), microinvasion (p=0.988), histologic grade (p=0.157), estrogen receptor status (p=0.401) and resection margin status (p=0.112) were not significantly correlated with recurrence. There was no breast cancer associated mortality. Conclusion: In this study, we found that the younger age at diagnosis and omission of adjuvant radiotherapy are independent predictors of recurrence in Korean DCIS patients.