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InsightHorizon Digest

What is low grade ductal carcinoma in situ

Author

Andrew Mccoy

Updated on April 04, 2026

DCIS is graded as: Low grade – the cancer cells look most like normal breast cells and are usually slow growing. Intermediate grade – the cancer cells look less like normal breast cells and are growing faster. High grade – the cancer cells look different to normal breast cells and may be fast growing.

Is ductal carcinoma in situ really cancer?

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) means the cells that line the milk ducts of the breast have become cancer, but they have not spread into surrounding breast tissue. DCIS is considered non-invasive or pre-invasive breast cancer.

Is ductal carcinoma in situ fatal?

DCIS refers to abnormal cells that are confined to the milk ducts. These cells have not yet spread into the surrounding normal breast tissue and cannot spread elsewhere in the body. It’s more of a precancer, or preinvasive lesion. So DCIS isn’t life-threatening, but it has the potential to become invasive cancer.

What is the best treatment for low grade DCIS?

  • Lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy: This is the most common treatment for DCIS. …
  • Mastectomy: Mastectomy, or removal of the breast, is recommended in some cases.
  • Lumpectomy alone.

What grade is ductal carcinoma in situ?

DCIS is categorized as low grade (grade I), intermediate grade (grade II), or high grade (grade III). Grading is based on characteristics of nuclei. Designation as low- and intermediate-grade DCIS implies that the cancer cells are growing at a relatively slow rate.

What is the treatment for carcinoma in situ?

TREATMENT APPROACH Patients with DCIS undergo local treatment with breast-conserving therapy (BCT) or mastectomy. BCT consists of lumpectomy (also called breast-conserving surgery, wide excision, or partial mastectomy) followed in most cases by adjuvant radiation.

Can DCIS spread after biopsy?

Because DCIS is not an invasive cancer and cannot spread to other parts of the body, whole body treatments, like chemotherapy, are not indicated for this stage of disease.

What does DCIS Grade 2 mean?

Grade II or moderate-grade DCIS cells grow faster than normal cells and look less like them. Grade I and grade II DCIS tend to grow slowly and are sometimes described as “non-comedo” DCIS. The term non-comedo means that there are not many dead cancer cells in the tumor.

Is DCIS grade 3 bad?

DCIS that is high grade, is nuclear grade 3, or has a high mitotic rate is more likely to come back (recur) after it is removed with surgery. DCIS that is low grade, is nuclear grade 1, or has a low mitotic rate is less likely to come back after surgery.

How quickly does DCIS spread?

Grade 1 DCIS is almost always ER and PR positive and is a very slow growing form of cancer. It can take years, even decades, to see progression of the disease. In some cases, it may take such a long time to spread beyond the breast duct that it is not an event that will happen during a person’s lifetime.

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What happens if DCIS is left untreated?

The cells in DCIS are cancer cells. If left untreated, they may spread out of the milk duct into the breast tissue. If this happens, DCIS has become invasive (or infiltrating) cancer, which in turn can spread to lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.

Can ductal carcinoma in situ come back?

When you have had DCIS, you are at higher risk for the cancer coming back or for developing a new breast cancer than a person who has never had breast cancer before. Most recurrences happen within the 5 to 10 years after initial diagnosis. The chances of a recurrence are under 30%.

Does DCIS cause fatigue?

Fatigue. You may feel tired during and after treatment. Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, surgery and other treatments may cause you to have less energy.

Can DCIS come back after lumpectomy?

Radiation therapy after lumpectomy reduces the chance that DCIS will come back (recur) or that it will progress to invasive cancer.

What is the difference between invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ?

What Is The Difference Between Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) And Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS)? DCIS means the cancer is still contained in the milk duct and has not invaded any other area. IDC is cancer that began growing in the duct and is invading the surrounding tissue.

Is a lumpectomy major surgery?

Lumpectomy is a commonly performed surgery but still major surgery with risks and potential complications. Later on, additional treatments may be required following a lumpectomy such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. For non-cancerous (benign) tumors, a lumpectomy may suffice.

What are the chances of getting DCIS in the other breast?

After a DCIS diagnosis in one breast, the average risk of developing either DCIS or invasive breast cancer in the OPPOSITE breast is small — under 1% each year. The risk is higher for women who have an abnormal breast cancer gene (BRCA1 or BRCA2).

What is the survival rate for DCIS?

Generally, patients diagnosed with DCIS have an excellent long-term breast-cancer-specific survival of around 98% after 10 years of follow-up24–27 and a normal life expectancy.

What is the difference between carcinoma and carcinoma in situ?

Carcinoma in situ, also called in situ cancer, is different from invasive carcinoma, which has spread to surrounding tissue, and from metastatic carcinoma, which has spread throughout the body to other tissues and organs. In general, carcinoma in situ is the earliest form of cancer, and is considered stage 0.

Is in situ the same as benign?

In addition to benign tumors, there are in situ tumors and invasive tumors. In situ tumors do not invade the basement membrane, whereas invasive tumors do invade the basement membrane.

Is a mastectomy recommended for DCIS?

Mastectomy involves removal of the whole breast and is usually recommended if the DCIS affects a large area of the breast, if it has not been possible to get a clear area of normal tissue around the DCIS by wide local excision, or if there is more than one area of DCIS.

How often is DCIS misdiagnosed?

IDC may be misdiagnosed as DCIS by preoperative biopsy. As mentioned above, 25.9% (18.6–37.2%) of cases preoperatively diagnosed as DCIS have been reported to be IDC according to a meta-analysis [5]. However, the ratio of misdiagnosis in this study was 40.7%, higher than that previously reported.

Can DCIS spread to bones?

The prognosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is reportedly well. Extremely rare patients with DCIS develop distant breast cancer metastasis without locoregional or contralateral recurrence. This is the first report of multiple bones and sigmoid colon metastases from DCIS after mastectomy.

Does DCIS run in families?

There is also evidence from epidemiological studies that there is an inherited predisposition to DCIS. Women with DCIS have been shown to be 2.4 times (95 % CI 0.8, 7.2) more likely to have an affected mother and sister with breast cancer than controls [13].

Does radiation cause hair loss?

Radiation therapy can also cause hair loss on the part of the body that is being treated. Hair loss is called alopecia. Talk with your health care team to learn if the cancer treatment you will be receiving causes hair loss.

Can I skip radiation after lumpectomy?

If you’re having lumpectomy and will be taking hormonal therapy after surgery, it may be possible for you to skip radiation therapy. As you are making your treatment plan, you and your doctor will consider a number of factors, including: your age. the size of the cancer.

Do I have to have radiation after a lumpectomy?

Radiation therapy is recommended for most people who have lumpectomy to remove breast cancer. Lumpectomy is sometimes called breast-conserving surgery. The goal of radiation after lumpectomy is to destroy any individual cancer cells that may have been left in the breast after the tumor was removed.

How much radiation is needed after a lumpectomy?

Most people receive 5 to 7 weeks of radiation therapy shortly after lumpectomy in order to eliminate any cancer cells that may be present in the remaining breast tissue. The combination of lumpectomy and radiation therapy is commonly called breast-conserving therapy.