Carcinoma in situ: Cancer that involves only the place in which it began and that has not spread. Carcinoma in situ is an early-stage tumor.
For example, squamous cell carcinoma in situ (Bowen's disease) is an early cancer of the skin. It develops from squamous cells which are flat, scalelike cells in the outer layer of the skin (the epithelium).
The term "in situ" (borrowed from the Romans) means "in the natural or normal place" and, in the case of cancer, it means that the tumor cells are still confined to the site where they originated and they have neither invaded neighboring tissues nor metastasized afar. The tumor is curable.
Library > Science > Sci-Tech Dictionary ( ′kärs·ən′Å·mÉ™ in ′si·chü ) ( medicine ) A malignant tumor in the premetastatic stage, when cells are at the ...
Carcinoma in situ: Cancer that involves only the place in which it began and that has not spread. Carcinoma in situ is an early-stage tumor.
Treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) differs from that of papillary transitional cell carcinoma (TCC).
DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) — Comprehensive overview covers diagnosis, risk factors and treatment.
Carcinoma in situ A lesion characterized by cytologic changes of the type associated with invasive carcinoma, but with the pathologic process limited to the lining ...