Lobular Carcinoma In Situ

Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) is an area (or areas) of abnormal cell growth that increases a person’s risk of developing invasive breast cancer later on in life. Lobular means that the abnormal cells start growing in the lobules, the milk-producing glands at the end of breast ducts. Carcinoma refers to any cancer that begins in the skin or other tissues that cover internal organs — such as breast tissue. In situ or “in its original place” means that the abnormal growth remains inside the lobule and does not spread to surrounding tissues.

Symptoms of LCIS : LCIS usually does not cause any signs or symptoms, such as a lump or other visible changes to the breast. LCIS may not always show up on a screening mammogram. One reason is that LCIS often lacks microcalcifications, the tiny specks of calcium that form within other types of breast cancer cells. On a mammogram, microcalcifications show up as white specks. It’s believed that many cases of LCIS simply go undiagnosed, and they may never cause any problems. 

Ask your doctor to show you the correct technique and how often you should examine your own breasts.clinical breast exams (manual exams performed by your doctor) at least twice a yea screening mammograms every year possibly other imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), if you have other risk factors for breast cancer and/or a strong family history of the disease

Research: With median follow-up of 15.8 years, 1273 women developed BC. The majority of BCs were invasive (81%), of which 61% were ductal, 13% were mixed ductal/lobular, and 14% werelobular. Approximately two-thirds of the BC cases were intermediate or high grade, and 29% were lymph node positive. Cancer characteristics were similar across the 3 histologic categories of BBD, with a similar frequency of ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive disease, tumor size, time to invasive BC, histologic type of BC, lymph node positivity, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positivity. 

In total, 5514 women were included in the study; 1637 (34•1 per cent) of 4801 women with invasive cancer and 150 (21•0 per cent) of 713 with DCIS had preoperative MRI. Positive resection margins were found in 18•1 per cent women who had MRI and in 15•1 per cent of those who did not (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1•20, 95 per cent c.i. 1•00 to 1•45), with no differences in subgroups. Re-excision rates were 9•8 per cent in the MRI group and 7•2 per cent in the no-MRI group (adjusted OR 1•33, 1•04 to 1•70), with no differences in subgroups.