Not all breast cancer is created equal. When comedienne Wanda Sykes opened up about her battle with the disease last week, she named ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, as the basis of her diagnosis, a type of breast cancer she described as "basically stage-zero cancer," in an interview on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" yesterday.
DCIS is known as stage zero or non-invasive breast cancer, meaning the cancer has not broken through the lining of the milk ducts, explains Kathie-Ann Joseph, MD, Director Breast Services at the Health and Hospitals Corporation, NYU Medical Center in New York. It makes up about 25 percent of all breast cancers. "If you are going to get breast cancer, this is the one to get," Joseph says, citing its 99 percent survival rate and the unlikelihood that chemotherapy will be required.
So how could Sykes' early detection have resulted in a double mastectomy? "Many women are choosing to have double mastectomies because they do not want to deal with breast cancer again in the future, or they may have what is called the BRCA mutation, a genetic mutation that is hereditary that predisposes you to developing breast and ovarian cancer," Joseph says. "These women often have a very strong family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer in the family and often develop breast cancer at an early age (but not always) and can often get breast cancer more than once."
Sykes revealed her own family history of the disease, according to Reuters. "I have a lot of breast cancer history on my mother's side of the family, which I didn't know about," she said.
And while some doctors don't consider DCIS to be cancer (due to its non-invasive nature), it can sometimes becomes invasive if not treated, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Despite Sykes' case, African-American women are less likely to be diagnosed with DCIS than other groups. The reason, according to Joseph, is because African-American women tend to be diagnosed at later stages. Earlier diagnosis is on the rise, however. In 1983, during what was considered "the prescreening era," 4,900 women were diagnosed with DCIS, as compared with approximately 54,000 women in 2010, the National Cancer Institute reports.
In most cases, DCIS won't cause any symptoms. "It is frequently seen as calcifications on a mammogram, rarely as a lump," Joseph says. The Mayo Clinic recommends making an appointment with your doctor if you notice a change in your breasts, such as a lump, an area of puckered or otherwise unusual skin, a thickened region under the skin or nipple discharge.
WATCH: Wanda Sykes Reveals Double Mastectomy