Lobular breast cancer

Lobular breast cancer (lobular carcinoma) develops in the lobule of glandular tissue, i.e. in the part of the breast where breast milk is produced – in the lobules. Lobular cancer is found in approximately 20% of women with malignant breast tumors.

A feature of this type of cancer is that several tumor nodules can form in one breast. In addition, cases of bilateral cancer are not uncommon, i.e. when tumors develop in both mammary glands.

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Causes lobular breast cancer

To date, the causes of lobular breast cancer have not yet been fully studied, but specialists know for sure some risk factors:

• heredity
• late birth (or no birth)
• early menstruation
• age (40-45 years)
• long-term use of hormones
• irradiation (including radiotherapy)

Lobular breast cancer is extremely difficult to identify, since the disease does not manifest itself with any mammological symptoms (nipple discharge, hardening, etc.).

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Symptoms lobular breast cancer

Lobular breast cancer occurs without any symptoms. This type of cancer is almost impossible to detect by traditional means used in mammological practice (no lumps are felt in the mammary glands, no discharge from the nipples).

If left untreated, lobular cancer gradually becomes invasive (spreads to adjacent tissues), in which case a lump appears on the mammary gland.

Forms

Infiltrating lobular breast cancer

Infiltrating lobular breast cancer has been diagnosed more frequently in recent years. Infiltrating lobular cancer occurs in women over fifty years of age and is a late stage of lobular cancer.

In infiltrating lobular carcinoma, the tumor is located around the ducts and structures (like a target) are also formed.

Other forms of formations are also encountered (solid with small homogeneous cells, alveolar with rounded lobules, pleomorphic with different types of cells).

5% of all identified types of infiltrating cancer are mixed, most often diagnosed as lobular and ductal. When tubular formations and small homogeneous cells are detected, the tubular-lobular form is diagnosed.

Metastasis to the lymph nodes located in the armpits with lobular cancer is not as common as with ductal cancer, but metastases can be in the form of small isolated formations that are diagnosed only by immunohistochemical examination.

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Invasive lobular breast cancer

Invasive lobular breast cancer is a rare type of malignant breast tumor. Its main difference from other forms is that a lump is felt in the breast (in other forms of cancer, a lump is felt).

In the early stages of invasive cancer, there are practically no symptoms. There are only a few signs that should alert a woman: a lump in the mammary gland that does not go away for a long time, the appearance of peeling on the chest, wrinkles, discharge from the nipples, paleness of a separate area of skin on the chest. If one or more signs appear, you need to contact a mammologist to find out the cause.

Diagnostics lobular breast cancer

Lobular breast cancer is quite difficult to diagnose. Mammography is a method often used to diagnose breast tumors, but it is ineffective in the case of lobular cancer. It is impossible to detect lobular cancer by palpation or during a routine examination by a mammologist.

In modern clinics that work with new technologies, if lobular cancer is suspected, a biopsy is prescribed followed by laboratory testing, mammography (to exclude other pathologies in the breast), computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, a blood test for tumor markers, and testing for receptors of female hormones, estrogens (lobular breast cancer is hormone-dependent).

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Treatment lobular breast cancer

Lobular breast cancer is currently treated in several ways, which differ significantly from each other not only in effectiveness, but also in the scope of interventions.

Excisional biopsy – removal of the tumor together with the adjacent tissue (under local anesthesia). After such treatment, the patient must undergo an annual examination by a doctor and, if necessary, undergo a repeat biopsy (once a year, it is mandatory to undergo a CT scan).

Hormonal treatment – lobular cancer is an estrogen-dependent tumor. Treatment with tamoxifen is quite effective, and also reduces the risk of the cancer becoming invasive. Hormonal treatment is prescribed in combination with excisional biopsy.

Bilateral prophylactic total mastectomy is the removal of the mammary gland to prevent the invasive form. Most surgeons consider this type of surgical intervention inappropriate, but if a woman is at risk and agrees to the removal, doctors will perform a mastectomy.

Prevention

Prevention of cancerous growths in the mammary glands consists primarily of annual examination by a mammologist, mammographic examination (after 40 years once every two years, after 50 years - once a year, for women at risk - once a year from an early age), timely elimination of precancerous lumps.

Lobular breast cancer can develop in a woman who has not given birth, or if the birth was late, as well as after multiple abortions. The optimal age for giving birth is considered to be a woman under 30 years of age.

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Forecast

Lobular breast cancer is usually detected at late stages of the disease, when the cancer process has become invasive. In this case, the prognosis depends on age, the rate of tumor growth, and the presence of metastases in other organs and tissues.

Detecting cancer at early stages ensures highly effective treatment.

Lobular breast cancer is considered a malignant tumor. As a rule, with this form of cancer, it is impossible to feel a lump in the mammary gland, and it is also extremely difficult to see the tumor using a mammograph, which complicates timely diagnosis. Lack of treatment increases the risk of developing an invasive form of cancer - a malignant tumor that is diagnosed each year in approximately 2% of patients with lobular breast cancer.

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