In ductal carcinoma in situ, cells do not spread outside the ducts to other breast tissues, but in some cases, they may spread.
Actress Danielle Fishel recently shared her breast cancer diagnosis, revealing that she is undergoing treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, an early, noninvasive stage of cancer that occurs when abnormal cells line the milk ducts in the breast. “It’s very, very, very early,” the 43-year-old actress said on her podcast. “Technically it’s stage 0. To be more specific, I was diagnosed with high-grade DCIS with microinvasion. And I’m going to be fine. I’m going to have surgery to remove it. I’m going to have follow-up treatment. I’ve had to make a lot of decisions in the last few days.”
In DCIS, cells do not spread outside the ducts into other breast tissues, but in some cases DCIS can become invasive and spread. DCIS accounts for about 20 percent of breast cancers.
According to doctors, the condition usually causes no symptoms, but it shows up on a mammogram, usually as clusters of microcalcifications. DCIS can be treated with surgery, sometimes with radiation therapy and medications, and chemotherapy is not necessary.
What are the signs and symptoms of DCIS??
Some women with DCIS may notice some signs and symptoms, including:
- A lump in the breast
- Itchy skin
- Nipple discharge
Despite this, more than 90 percent of DCIS cases are detected through imaging procedures, such as mammograms.
What are the risk factors for DCIS?
Experts say they don’t know what causes the abnormal cell growth in DCIS, but several factors may increase the risk. Some of these include:
- Age, especially women after 30 years of age.
- Family history of breast cancer
- Having menstruation before age 12
- Having a baby after 30 years
- Never having been pregnant or breastfeeding
- Onset of menopause after age 55
- A personal story of breast cancer
- Having dense breast tissue
- Having received prior radiation therapy to the breasts or chest.
- Having genetic mutations associated with an increased risk of cancer – BRCA1 and BRCA2
- Experts say that having a risk factor doesn’t mean you’ll get DCIS and that risk factors are about probability: what can increase your chances of developing a condition.
Why is DCIS known as stage zero??
According to doctors, since then DCIS is a highly treatable and curable stage.This is known as stage zero breast cancer. Doctors classify cancer in stages from 0 to 4. Stage zero is shown as a cluster of cancerous tumors and determines where the tumor is located, the size of the tumor, and whether cancer cells have spread to other areas. The lower the number, the better the chances of successful treatment.
Although DCIS is always stage 0, the tumor can be any size and may be located within several milk ducts within the breast. However, the prognosis for DCIS with treatment is excellent.
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