Nation IN BRIEF : NATIONWIDE : Breast Tumor May Not Need Surgery

Thousands of women every year undergo mastectomies, perhaps unnecessarily, to remove an extremely tiny type of breast cancer that may not spread or endanger their lives, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. The tumors, called ductal carcinoma in situ, are contained in the milk ducts in the breast. Most are too small to be felt and show up only on X-rays. Women with these minuscule early tumors might instead take a more conservative approach than removal of the breast, such as lumpectomy--removal of just the cancerous tissue, plus radiation, researchers say.