Malignant breast disease, or breast cancer, forms in the breast tissue, most often in the structures called the ducts and lobules. Every three minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. Fortunately, huge strides have been made in recent years relating to the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
One of the earliest stages of breast cancer is known as ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. This is a form of breast cancer in which carcinoma, or abnormal cells are found in the lining of a breast duct. “In situ” means that the abnormal cells have not spread or invaded other breast tissues outside of the duct. In other words, DCIS is considered noninvasive. However, in some cases, DCIS can become a more aggressive form of cancer called invasive ductal carcinoma, or IDC.
Although DCIS is not usually detected during a breast physical exam, the frequency of the diagnosis of DCIS has increased dramatically in recent years, as the use of screening mammography has become more common. There is an extremely high cure rate when DCIS is detected early. In fact, deaths from DCIS as well as other types of breast cancer have been declining in recent years due to earlier detection and treatment.