Precancerous Changes in the Breast

What does it mean to have precancerous changes in the breast? Dr. Jay K. Harness explains the different types of precancerous changes and what they mean for your doctor. Click Here To Get Dr. Harness' 15 Breast Cancer Questions To Ask Your Doctor http://www.breastcanceranswers.com/what-breast-cancer-questions-to-ask/# Breast Cancer Answers is a social media show where viewers submit a question and get the answer from an expert. Submit your question now at, ‪http://www.breastcanceranswers.com/ask‬ In this clip, Jay Harness, MD, FACS explains what precancerous findings are in breast cancer. So what are precancerous findings in breast cancer? The classic one is called 'lobular carcinoma in situ'. This is an incidental finding at the time of a breast biopsy for whatever the reason is. Typically, it's a benign outcome and we find this LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ) and we know that it increases the lifetime risk of a patient developing breast cancer. Another type of precancerous change is called atypical ductal hyperplasia. It's an overgrowth of the cells lining the ductal system and then those cells, when we look at them under the microscope, are being called by the pathologists atypical. Another category is called 'flat epithelial hyperplasia', a big fancy medical term that now is in this increased risk category. Typically, these things that I have just described are found at the time of biopsy for what is usually something benign, and then that increases our awareness of the patient. Finding atypical ductal hyperplasia may also prompt a bigger biopsy to be done to make sure that, in fact, we aren't dealing with early in situ breast cancer.