Researchers in a new analysis showed that women who were treated for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) have a similar chance of dying from breast cancer as those who had not been diagnosed. The new findings have now raised a question on whether we are being overly aggressive with our treatment of DCIS.

The American Cancer Society said in a statement that more than 60,000 cases of DCIS are diagnosed every year in the United States, but this does not mean that a woman with DCIS has a breast cancer.

As per experts, DCIS are abnormal cells found inside the milk ducts of the breast. They can look like invasive breast cancer cells, but they haven't spread into the breast tissue. Usually there are three way doctors treat DCIS. First is with a lumpectomy, removing the masses themselves, second method is lumpectomy and radiation, and the third is removing the breast altogether with a mastectomy.

But a new analysis published this week in Journal of American Medical Association Oncology questioned the necessity of some of these treatments. Researchers during the analysis tracked more than 100,000 women diagnosed with DCIS for nearly 20 years.

Dr. Steven Narod, of the Women's College Research Institute in Toronto, and his colleagues said the results showed that women treated with DCIS had a same chance of dying from breast cancer as those who had never been diagnosed.

All the women were part of the National Cancer Institute's SEER program, a database of cancer patients in the United States.

Narod said in a statement that not only women who were treated have similar chances of dying from breast cancer as those who hadn't been treated, but also the type of treatment didn't seem to make much a difference.