Resumen
A diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ, made on biopsy, is often followed by surgery or radiotherapy because of the risk of an upgrading disease upon subsequent surgical specimens, finding invasive carcinoma. In order to select which patients can be spared overtreatments and alternatively followed with active surveillance, we retrospectively reviewed 2173 vacuum assisted breast biopsies. Our goal was to demonstrate if complete removal of the lesion by biopsy, documented by mammograms, can be a valid criterion to select the patients that can be spared further treatments. The results of our study demonstrate a significant lower upgrading rate of disease when the lesion is completely removed. Thus, performing a mammogram to document the absence of residual lesion following vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB) allows us to reduce overtreatments and to select which patients can be followed with an active surveillance, sparing unjustified public health costs.