Pre-cancerous education for women 

06:47 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 29, 2005

From NWCN Staff Reports

Do you know what the term DCIS means? Many don't, and it causes a panic. In 1980, less than 5,000 cases of a known as DCIS were diagnosed. This year, 50,000 will be diagnosed – not because it's an epidemic, but because better technology can detect it.

As a mother and a self-proclaimed workaholic, Lois Olinger didn't have time for interruptions in her life, even for a mammogram.

"Work got in the way, and I sort of didn't have one for several years, and that wasn't a good thing," she said.

Neither were the results when she finally did have one. It was DCIS but she didn’t know what it was.

It stands for ductal carcinoma in situ that are cancerous cells confined to the milk ducts. Despite its nearly complete cure rate, most women react like Lois.

"My first question was, 'Is this something you die from?' The doctor assured me, 'no', but you really don't believe him," she said.

That's why Dr. Eric Winer, at Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston, wants to get the word out.

"I think by educating people, one thing we can do is take away the fear that, as a result of getting DCIS, their life is going to be threatened," he said.

DCIS often shows up on a mammogram as a calcification, not unlike invasive cancer. A biopsy can confirm which it is.

"It generally is removed and most of the time it is both removed, and a woman would then receive radiation to the breast,” saie Winer.

The only risk with DCIS is that if it's not detected and treated, it could evolve and become invasive cancer.

Lois realizes how lucky she was for her early detection, and has turned into a strong advocate of mammograms.