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A group of specialists at the National Cancer Institute recently issued a report calling for a redefinition of the word "cancer," suggesting that it no longer be applied to certain premalignant and non-lethal conditions. Such a change, the panel wrote, may ease the fears of patients, making them less inclined to seek unnecessary and potentially harmful treatments. The findings reinforce earlier studies by Dana-Farber physicians and others.
An example of this kind of condition is ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), in which cancerous cells are confined to the milk ducts of the breast. It is the most common form of non-invasive breast cancer, found in more than 60,000 women in the U.S. each year, according to the American Cancer Society.
In this video, Eric Winer, MD, director of the Breast Oncology Center at the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers at Dana-Farber, answers some common questions about DCIS and its treatment.
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