How long would it take DCIS to show up on my mammogram as microcalcifications?
No one knows that. We do know that, on the basis of the appearance of microcalcifications, that sometimes DCIS can appear to grow very rapidly. We don’t know if they’re really growing rapidly or that simply more of the lesion is showing calcification — because the calcification doesn’t always occur in every in situ cancer. Sometimes, the calcification may mark only a portion of the tumor. Sometimes, it doesn’t mark any of it, even when necrosis (cell degeneration) is present.
