Imaging Diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.

Abstract

DCIS became a topic of interest mainly after the onset of mammography screening programs. Almost 90% of DCIS are detected by mammography, in particular screening, and this remains the main imaging method for DCIS. The evaluation of tumor size made by imaging methods helped surgeons to use conservative breast surgery more frequently, instead of mastectomy, with safe oncological results. In many situations mammography could be considered enough to determine the correct extension of the disease. However, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) proved to be more accurate in the evaluation of the extension of the disease, especially in young women. The ultrasound is not the method of choice for DCIS but seems to bring its contribution in detecting specific signs of the diagnosis and the tumor extension. The review of the literature is passed through the light of authors own experience.