What is ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)?
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) refers to the most common type of noninvasive breast cancer. DCIS is confined to milk ducts in the breast and abnormal cells have not spread into the fatty breast tissue or the lymph nodes. Often detected by mammography, DCIS may appear as specks of calcium, called microcalcifications. Suspected DCIS is confirmed by a breast biopsy, in which a small sample of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope. This may use fine needle aspiration or wide needle excision. DCIS can, however become invasive if not treated. This happens in less than half of diagnosed cases. The problem is that current technology cannot determine whether it will become invasive or not. Chances are that many women have DCIS and don’t know it, living out their life span in blissful ignorance. Women who are diagnosed with DCIS may be advised to have a mastectomy, lumpectomy, lumpectomy followed by radiation, or simply “watchful waiting” to see whether and how the DCIS progresse
