A new study has found that women who receive early treatment for breast cancer are predisposed to developing the disease two-fold and possibly die from an aggressive form of the illness up to 20 years later. 

Ductal carcinoma in situ, or cancerous cells found in milk ducts, is thought to be treatable and non-life threatening. However, researchers wanted to verify the long-term risk for women diagnosed with the disease.

The researchers analyzed 35,024 women in England diagnosed as having DCIS. The women were seen and diagnosed by the NHS breast screening program from when it started in 1988 up to March 2014. 

By December 2014, about 2,076 women developed invasive breast cancer, and more than double the number anticipated and expected from national statistics.

Around 310 women died from breast cancer, which was 70 percent more than expected from national proportions. For both invasive breast cancer and death from breast cancer, the increases continued for at least two decades, according to the researchers. 

Furthermore, most women with DCIS are only called back for yearly mammograms for five years. After which, follow-ups are then given every three years up to the age of 70.

According to Professor Sarah Darby, the paper's leader from the University of Oxford, a better understanding about this risk puts health professionals in a better position to make informed decisions particularly on how to treat and monitor women with DCIS.

The findings of the study were published in the BMJ on May 27, 2020.

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What is Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS)?

The American Cancer Society describes DCIS as a non-invasive or pre-invasive breast cancer, meaning the cells that border the ducts have morphed into cancer cells. 

However, they have not fanned out through the walls of the ducts into the adjacent breast tissue.

John Hopkins Medicine says that there is a current debate about whether DCIS should be called breast cancer at all. It is presently classified as being Stage 0 breast cancer.

DCIS isn't life-threatening, but having a diagnosis can increase the risk of it, later on, progressing into invasive breast cancer, says breastcancer.org.

Furthermore, most recurrences occur within five to ten years after the initial diagnosis. The chances of the disease returning are under 30%.

Breast Cancer Facts

According to the NHS, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United Kingdom. Most women who receive a diagnosis of breast cancer are over the age of 50. Nonetheless, younger women can also develop breast cancer.

About 1 in 8 women are pronounced with breast cancer during their lifetime. A diagnosis of breast cancer is obtained through a mammogram and then later on a biopsy.

For the year of 2020, the American Cancer Society estimates about 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer to be diagnosed in women in the United States. 

Furthermore, the society also approximates about 48,530 new cases of carcinoma in situ to be identified in American women this year. Lastly, they calculate that about 42,170 women will die from breast cancer in 2020. 

As of the present, there are more than 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. This also includes women who continue to receive treatment and those who have completed their regimen.

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