Pathology and clinical evolution of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast.

The therapy of ductal carcinoma in situ is controversial, but is being more and more decided by the pathologic evidence. What we know of the natural history of ductal carcinoma in situ is that the comedo and non-comedo examples seem quite different. As detailed in several reviews, the information from studies following patients after biopsy alone indicate a great difference between the small non-comedo examples of ductal carcinoma in situ and the larger comedo DCIS. The currently available evidence from cases which have been treated by planned surgical excision without radiation therapy would indicate that the non-comedo examples of DCIS may be adequately treated by this modality as indicated in several recent studies.