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Main page Breast cancer Book marks Links More info Breast cancer-DCISDuctal carcinoma in situ (also known as DCIS) is the most common type of noninvasive breast cancer that occurs in women. DCIS cannot usually be detected by physical examination alone. DCIS means that the cancer cells are inside the ducts but have not spread through the walls of the ducts into the surrounding breast tissue. In situ, or "in place," means a cancer is still in position and has not moved out of the area of the body where it originally developed. This means the cells lining the milk ducts (the channels in the breast that carry milk to the nipple) are cancerous, but stay contained within the ducts without growing through into the surrounding breast tissue. It is called ductal because this the cancer is confined to the milk ducts in contrast to lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) which refers to a similar process in the milk glands. A diagnosis of DCIS is usually made from a sample of breast tissue removed called a needle biopsy. Approximately 20% of new breast cancer cases will be DCIS. If DCIS is left untreated, it may, over a period of years, begin to spread into the breast tissue surrounding the ducts. Mostly DCIS is detected on mammograms as small deposits or spots of calcium salts, known as microcalcification. Nearly all women diagnosed at this early stage of breast cancer can be cured. Microcalcifications occur in the breasts for many reasons. A mammogram is the best way to find DCIS early. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 40,000 new cases of DCIS are diagnosed yearly in the United States making it the most common type of non-invasive breast cancer in women. When DCIS is diagnosed, an important distinction that will be considered by the pathologist is whether an area of dead or degenerating cancer cells, called tumor necrosis, is present which is a sign of aggressive cancer. DCIS accounts for nearly 25% of all breast cancer diagnoses. Not every woman with DCIS will go on to develop breast cancer if it is left untreated, but it is not possible to predict which of the women with the diagnosis of DCIS will go on to develop breast cancer. Based on the aggressiveness DCIS is graded to low, intermediate and high grade. Ovarian cancer |