Is It Normal To Have Both Invasive And Non-Invasive (In-Situ) Breast Cancer In The Same Tumor?

Dr. Norton answers the question: 'Normal To Have Invasive And Non-Invasive?'

By
Larry Norton, M.D., Deputy Physician-in-Chief, Breast Cancer Programs, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
May 8, 2008, 4:18 PM ET
1 min read

— -- Question: Is it normal to have both invasive and non-invasive (in-situ) breast cancer in the same tumor?

Answer: Very often, invasive breast cancer -- the kind that spreads into the surrounding tissue -- arises from pre-existing, non-invasive breast cancer. So we will commonly see DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ -- which is a non-invasive form of breast cancer -- with some parts of it actually turning into invasive cancer, spreading into the tissues of the breast. This is important because it's the invasive component that stands a chance of spreading to other parts of the body.

Sometimes we see invasive cancer without pre-existing, non-invasive cancer, and that's important too. The important part of all of this is that we have to remove all the cancer, whether it's invasive or non-invasive, and in doing so, we limit the chance of the cancer coming back in the breast or in other parts of the body.

Next: What If I Have Two Different Tumors In Different Parts Of My Breast, Such As The Upper-Outer Area And The Lower-Inner Area?

Previous: What are the different types of invasive breast cancers?