Dr Tanjina Kader speaks to ecancer about her study regarding recurrent non-invasive breast tumours that may not always be related to the primary lesion.

Initially, she explains the background and methodology of the study. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a precancerous lesion that recurs in approximately 25 percent of patients, and half of these recurrences are invasive cancer with potential life-threatening consequences.

In this study, Dr Kader and colleagues assembled 65 pairs of matched primary DCIS and recurrence cases to explore their genetic changes, with the goal of understanding how often a recurrence is a new tumour, as this information might affect patient care. The study also included a set of 29 nonrecurrent DCIS cases treated with wide local excision.

Dr Kader then explains the results of the study and what its future implications can be.