Navratilova said she has a noninvasive form of the cancer, called ductal carcinoma in situ, that was detected during a mammogram.

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Ductal, a French version of the material which is commercially available, can withstand pressure many times higher than normal concrete can.

ECONOMIST: Bunker-busting

In very rare cases, this ductal dysplasia can progress to pancreatic cancer.

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Although it has been demonstrated only in small samples, it might be possible, using such nanoparticles, to produce concrete that is four times stronger than Ductal.

ECONOMIST: Bunker-busting

Days after the 2004 election, in which her husband ran for vice president, Elizabeth Edwards was found to have invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common type of breast cancer.

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The day after Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and Edwards, his running mate, conceded the election to George W. Bush, Edwards announced that his wife had invasive ductal cancer, the most common type of breast cancer, and would undergo treatment.

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Even in the precancerous stage, called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) when abnormal cells are confined to a milk duct, physicians almost always advise women to have a lumpectomy or mastectomy along with radiation, because about 20% of the 65, 000 cases of DCIS found every year in the U.S. become invasive cancer.

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