Dr. Van Zee on Nomograms for Patients With DCIS

Kimberly J. Van Zee, MD, surgical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses nomograms as a tool to determine the risk of recurrence for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Researchers looked at 2000 women with DCIS who were treated with breast conservation surgery, and then calculated their risk of recurrence using a nomogram, Van Zee explains. A nomogram is a mathematical formula that estimates a patient's risk of recurrence by measuring several factors and variables. After entering in the necessary information into the nomogram, a patient’s risk of recurrence will be predicted at 5 and 10 years.

In the study population, the correlated risk and actual risk of recurrence ended up being very similar, Van Zee says. Additional patient populations from Belgium, Singapore, Harvard Medical School, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center were also found to have similar predicted and actual risks.