Quality Care for Noninvasive Breast Cancer on the Central Coast
Trying to understand how a diagnosis of noninvasive breast cancer differs from other types of breast cancer? Breast cancer typically starts in one of two areas: your ducts, which drain milk out to your nipple, or your lobules, which are your glands that produce milk.
Noninvasive breast cancer is the earliest stage of breast cancer (stage 0). If you have been diagnosed with this type of breast cancer, it means the cancer cells are growing but haven’t yet traveled anywhere. Your Dignity Health Central Coast doctor will treat you with a philosophy of care, dignity, and respect and will develop a personalized treatment plan for your noninvasive breast cancer.
Find a Doctor today to explore your range of treatment options for noninvasive breast cancer on the Central Coast of California.
Determining Types of Noninvasive Breast Cancer at Dignity Health Central Coast
Noninvasive breast cancer stays at the site where it first started. Another name for it is “in situ,” meaning that the cells are remaining in place.
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a type of noninvasive breast cancer in which the cancer begins in the ducts of your breast. It makes up about one in five new breast cancer cases. Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) begins in your milk-producing glands and is a precancerous warning sign.
Being a woman is the main risk factor for breast cancer. However, men can get it, too. Your risk also increases as you age.
Diagnosing Noninvasive Breast Cancer at Dignity Health Central Coast
LCIS does not typically show up on a mammogram. There are generally no signs for this type of breast cancer. Most of the time, doctors discover noninvasive breast cancer while performing a biopsy for another breast condition.
Very few women notice a lump or nipple discharge for DCIS, and symptoms are rare. This make mammography an important cancer screening. It usually detect noninvasive ductal carcinoma.
Prevention & Noninvasive Breast Cancer Treatment
Your Dignity Health Central Coast doctor will discuss treatment options with you, which may include careful monitoring hormone therapy to try to prevent breast cancer, or reducing your risk through prophylactic mastectomy.
Surgery — either a lumpectomy and mastectomy — is the typical treatment option for DCIS. In a lumpectomy, the tumor and some tissue surrounding it are removed. Your doctor will usually recommend radiation therapy following a lumpectomy. In a mastectomy, the entire breast is removed. Your doctor may recommend hormone therapy after surgery.
Your Dignity Health Central Coast doctor can discuss the power of an annual screening mammogram with you, since it is the most effective prevention for DCIS.
If you are concerned about the possibility of noninvasive breast cancer, contact Dignity Health Central Coast about scheduling a cancer screening.
Doctors at Dignity Health specialize in personal care for oncology, including noninvasive breast cancer treatment, throughout the Central Coast of California.