Noninvasive breast cancer. The dilemma of the 1990s.

The most profound impact in the field of breast cancer during the last 15 years has been the development and acceptance of screening mammography: a test capable of finding nonpalpable cancer years before it would have become clinically evident. Many of these nonpalpable lesions are noninvasive; many of them are not even real cancers. The spectrum of treatment for noninvasive breast cancer runs from nothing more than excisional biopsy to bilateral mastectomy. No wonder noninvasive breast cancer is one of the most confusing problems in oncology today, for both patients and physicians.