New study to examine how to treat early breast cancer

A Duke University researcher is launching a U.S. study that will investigate how best to treat early breast cancer.

The study, called Comparison of Operative to Medical Endocrine Therapy (COMET), will focus on ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Dr. E. Shelley Hwang, chief of breast surgery at Duke Cancer Institute, will lead the study through a cooperative group, the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. The effort will be funded by a $13.4 million, five-year award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

DCIS is diagnosed annually in 60,000 U.S. women, and it's usually treated the same way as advanced breast cancers, with surgery and radiation therapy, according to a statement released by Duke. But physicians and researchers are concerned about whether these treatments are necessary, since DCIS does not tend to grow rapidly or spread in the majority of women.

The study will include 900 patients diagnosed with low-risk DCIS from 100 cancer centers throughout the U.S.; enrollment will begin later this year. Participants will be randomized to receive either the current standard of care -- surgery and radiation therapy -- or careful monitoring with mammograms and physical exams every six months.