Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with a non-invasive breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ. Known as DCIS, the condition affects the milk ducts and has about a 98 percent survival rate.
The malignancy can be detected by mammograms and accounts for 20 to 25 percent of all breast cancers diagnoses. But how and if to treat it remains controversial, particularly in light of renewed debate over the merits of breast cancer screening for women in their 40s.
Researchers with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force say it's unknown if DCIS progresses to an invasive cancer and argue that treatment of it may represent overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
A recent study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute recently called for more research on how to deal with DCIS, the LA Times explains.
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