What is ductal in situ cancer?
What is ductal in situ cancer?
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What is in situ cancer?
The name ductal cancer in situ, refers to a specific diagnosis of cancer. This is a very early type of cancer which is curable in more than 97% of all women. Ductal cancer in situ is isolated within the breast duct, and has not spread to other parts of your breast. Treatment is local, occurring only at your breast. Treatment often consists of removing the lump from the breast, and is often followed by radiation therapy to the affected area.
Breast cancer confined to the duct spreads to the lymph nodes under the arm only 1% of the time. It is rarely treated with chemotherapy.
Caption: The ducts carry milk to the nipple from the milk glands, or "lobes."
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What is ductal cancer In Situ?
Ductal cancer in situ is an earlier and more easily treated stage of cancer than invasive cancer. Cancer is called invasive when cancer cells have grown beyond the duct and spread to surrounding breast tissue, and perhaps, into lymph nodes under the arm or other parts of your body.
Invasive cancer is treated differently than ductal cancer in situ. To learn more about treatment options for invasive cancer, go back to the lighthouse and select the "Invasive Cancer" (Cancer That Has Spread) information.
Caption: The lump in your breast is treated.
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Two Types of in situ Cancer
Carcinoma In Situ is used to describe breast cancer that has not yet spread beyond the ducts or lobes where it began. While it is not considered invasive, this diagnosis does mean that changes have taken place in your body that show that you are at risk for developing invasive cancer. There are two types of carcinoma in situ. One arises in the ducts (the pipelines to the nipple), and is named Ductal carcinoma in situ. The other arises in the lobes (the milk-producing tissue), and is called Lobular carcinoma in situ. In situ cancers, when detected and treated early, are rarely life-threatening.
Ductal Carcinoma in situ: is much more common than lobular carcinoma in situ, and can grow into invasive cancer if not detected at an early stage.
Lobular Carcinoma in situ: is actually called a "pre-cancer," and is considered a high-risk factor for breast cancer.
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Ductal Carcinoma in situ
Ductal carcinoma in situ is diagnosed when malignant-appearing cells are found within the ducts that connect the milk-producing lobules to your nipples.
Ductal carcinoma in situ is much more common than lobular carcinoma in situ, and is a very early cancer diagnosis. If found it can be removed from the breast before it develops into invasive cancer and affects the surrounding breast tissue.
This type of cancer is usually treated locally with lumpectomy and radiation therapy. Rarely is a mastectomy recommended for this type of tumor.
Caption: Most breast cancers start in the ducts. This figure shows "intraductal carcinoma in situ," which means that cancer cells have not invaded surrounding tissues.
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Lobular Carcinoma in situ
Lobular carcinoma in situ is considered a high risk factor for, rather than a sign of breast cancer. This diagnosis means that abnormal cells have been detected in one or more of your breast lobes. Research shows that when a lobular carcinoma in situ is found, there is a 20% to 30% chance that you will develop invasive breast cancer during the next 30 years, in either breast.
Since lobular carcinoma in situ is a "warning sign" that you have a higher risk for other breast cancer, removing it isnÕt enough. With this condition, you will have a higher continued risk of developing breast cancer.
Health care providers can treat lobular carcinoma in two ways. One way is to monitor your breast very carefully with exams every 3 to 4 months and yearly mammograms, to detect early invasive cancer if it occurs. Another option is to remove both breasts, since they are at equal risk of future invasive breast cancer. You should choose what treatment is right for you.
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What is Cancer?
Cancer is the name for a group of diseases in which abnormal cells grow and displace normal body tissue. Normally, healthy cells in your body grow, divide, die and replace themselves in an orderly way. This process keeps your body in good repair. Sometimes, cells lose the ability to control their growth. They grow too rapidly without any order, making too much tissue and forming tumors. These tumors can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer).
Benign tumors are not cancer. They will not spread to other parts of your body, and they are seldom a threat to your life. Often, benign tumors can be removed with surgery, and they are not likely to return.
Malignant tumors are cancerous. They can spread and kill nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells also can break away from the main tumor and enter the bloodstream and the lymphatic system. This process of cancer spreading to other parts of your body is called metastasis. Even if a malignant cancer tumor is removed from your breast, the disease may return if the cancer cells had spread to other parts of your body before the tumor was removed.
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The Nature of Cancer
Cancer is almost always a treatable disease if it is detected early enough. It is much easier to treat before it has spread. But cancer is often lethal if left unchecked. Malignant cancer at the most basic level is abnormal cell growth that reaches out creating new abnormal cells, while itÕs center core consumes healthy cells in the breast. This creates a tumor, which is a lumped group of abnormal cells. Cancer cells often spread through the body. Medical scientists call this autonomy, meaning the cancer works on itÕs own. Some health care professionals have even compared cancer to an unruly street gang, a disorganized mob that has no rules for how living cells normally behave.
A healthy cell is born, lives a short life, and then dies. Cancer cells are different. Cancer cells cultivated in a laboratory do not die as quickly Ð they continue to grow and start new tumors. Cancer cells donÕt live normal cell cycles. Their uncontrolled birth and delayed death make cancer cell growth rapid, widespread and destructive.
Early detection and early treatment are the only ways we know to stop cancer. Even if you have advanced cancer, it is recommended that you seek treatment to reduce itÕs destructive effects.
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Who is at risk for Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is not caused by bumping, bruising, or touching the breast Ñ nor is breast cancer contagious Ñ no one can catch breast cancer from another person.
Factors that increase a womanÕs chances of getting the disease are usually things you have no control over, like age and family history. Most common types of nodules and fibrocystic changes of the breast do not increase your risk of breast cancer.
Age: About 75 percent of all breast cancers are found in women over the age of 50. The disease is uncommon in women under the age of 30.
Family History: The risk of getting breast cancer increases for a woman whose mother, sister, or daughter had the disease Ð particularly if she had the disease before she reached menopause.
Personal History: About 15 percent of women treated for cancer in one breast are likely to get cancer in the other breast later on.
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The Human Breast
The main biological function of the female breast is to produce milk. Each of your breasts has 15 to 20 sections, called lobes, that are arranged in a flower shape like petals on a daisy. Lobes fill up with milk when a women is breastfeeding.
Each lobe has many smaller lobules which end in do-->ens of tiny bulbs which produce milk. The lobes, lobules, and bulbs are all linked by thin tubes called ducts.
These ducts carry milk from the lobes to your nipple, located in the center of the dark area of skin on your breast called the areola.
The spaces between the milk-producing parts of your breast are filled by fat. Muscles cover your ribs and lie under your breast, but they are not part of your breasts.
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