Invasive lobular breast cancer

About 10 to 15% of breast cancers diagnosed are invasive lobular carcinoma. This means that the cancer started in the cells that line the lobules or lobes of the breast and has spread into the surrounding breast tissue. Invasive lobular cancer can develop in women of any age. But is most common in women between 45 and 55 years old. It is possible for men to get invasive lobular breast cancer, but this is very rare.

Remember - if your doctor has told you that you have lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), you do not have invasive lobular breast cancer. These are two different things. You can find information about LCIS in this section of CancerHelp UK.

The outlook for invasive lobular breast cancer is much the same as for ductal breast cancer. It is more common for lobular breast cancer to be diagnosed in both breasts at the same time. And if you have invasive lobular breast cancer diagnosed in one breast, there is a slightly higher risk of getting it in the other breast in the future.

Invasive lobular breast cancer does not always form a firm lump. And it does not usually show up on mammograms. So it can be difficult to diagnose. Because of this, invasive lobular cancers may be larger than other types of breast cancer when they are diagnosed. You may have a thickened area of breast tissue instead of a definite lump. You can find information about tests for lobular breast cancer in the diagnosing breast cancer pages.

The treatment for invasive lobular breast cancer is the same as for the more common type of breast cancer (ductal breast cancer). Usually, you will have surgery to remove the area of cancer and a surrounding area of healthy tissue (wide local excision). Invasive lobular breast cancer can sometimes be found in more than one area within the breast. In that case, it may not be possible to remove just the area of the cancer. You may then be asked to have a mastectomy. If you choose to, you can have breast reconstruction at the same time as mastectomy or sometime afterwards. If at all possible, your breast surgeon will offer you the choice of mastectomy or wide local excision and radiotherapy.

After the surgery you may be offered radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or biological therapy or a combination of treatments. You may also have hormone therapy if your breast cancer cells are oestrogen receptor positive. Look at the types of breast cancer treatment page to find out more about how the various treatments are used.