Stage-Zero Breast Cancer, another reason to be tested - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

By Kristin Beerman | email

Edited by Jon Bush | email 

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) – We've heard of women getting diagnosed with stage two, three or four breast cancer, but what about stage-zero?  Stage-zero breast cancer is also known as Ductal Carcinoma in Situ, or DCIS, This particular breast cancer has not invaded the surrounding tissue or organs.  This is a stage zero cancer after it's been biopsies or removed, it can't be felt by an exam, which is why surgeons say it's one more reason that yearly mammogram is so important.

"Somewhere between 95 and 100% of these people are cured with this diagnosis. For those of us who treat cancer, we rarely get the luxury of finding a curable cancer. And this is a curable cancer, and it's only curable by doing mammogram's every year," said Elin Sigurdon, M.D., a surgical oncologist.

 "If I had waited, I might have died," said Deena Dampsky Dell, who was diagnosed with stage zero breast cancer.

In this condition, abnormal cells appear in the ducts of the breast.  The important thing is to find them, and remove them, before they become invasive.  With the increased use of mammogram's, doctors are finding these abnormal cells much more often today.

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