Question: Can cancer just disappear? I get yearly mammograms and last month I had a core biopsy for some new calcifications that my doctor who does my mammograms was worried about and the diagnosis came back as “atypical ductal hyperplasia with focal ductal carcinoma in situ”. She told me I needed to have surgery but when I had a lumpectomy they told me there was no cancer left. Is this possible? What do I do now ? I am worried someone missed my cancer. My doctor said they are going to look back at my biopsy to see if the cancer is estrogen positive so I can take Tamoxifen and she said I may need radiation. Does this make sense?

Answer: I am sorry you have to deal with this confusion.  From what you have told me, it sounds like the pathologist saw atypical ductal hyperplasia and an area that he/she thought might be ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) from ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).  Unfortunately, this is one of the most complicated areas of breast pathology–my recommendation is that before you continue with any treatment, especially if you are recommended to have radiation therapy for the DCIS, please have someone else look at your initial core biopsy to determine if you really did have DCIS.  If you only had ADH on your core biopsy then you should not have to face radiation therapy and you would not be diagnosed with breast cancer. Please feel free to contact me if this didn’t answer your question appropriately.