DCIS is also called intraductal (within the milk ducts) carcinoma. You may hear the terms “pre-invasive” or “pre-cancerous” to describe DCIS.
DCIS is treated to try to prevent the development of invasive breast cancer.
DCIS diagnosed with invasive breast cancer
DCIS can be found alone or with invasive breast cancer.
If DCIS is diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, treatment and prognosis are based on the invasive breast cancer (not the DCIS).
Learn about treatment for early breast cancer.
Treatment and prognosis for DCIS
Surgery (with or without radiation therapy) is recommended to treat DCIS. After surgery and radiation therapy, some women take hormone therapy(tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor).
With treatment, prognosis is usually excellent.
Learn more about treatment for DCIS.
Why is DCIS treated?
DCIS is non-invasive, but without treatment, it could progress to invasive cancer over time.
At this time, health care providers cannot predict which cases of DCIS will progress to invasive breast cancer and which will not. Because DCIS might progress to invasive breast cancer, almost all cases of DCIS are treated.
Risk of developing invasive breast cancer after DCIS
After treatment for DCIS, there’s a small risk of:
- DCIS recurrence (return of DCIS)
- Invasive breast cancer
These risks are higher with lumpectomy plus radiation therapy than with mastectomy.
However, overall survival is the same after either treatment.
With close follow-up, invasive breast cancer is usually caught early and can be treated successfully.
Learn about treatment for DCIS.
