Tumor Biology of Infiltrating Lobular Carcinoma

Regional variations in breast cancer incidence among California women, 1988–1997

“…Finally, we can not discount the possibility that the rate differences we observed are due to screening bias, though this may be less likely for lobular cancers, which are generally more difficult than ductal cancers to detect by mammography [74][75][76]. Responses from 1997 statewide survey data do suggest very modest regional differences in mammography utilization [68,69].…”

Margin status and the risk of local recurrence after breast-conserving treatment of lobular breast cancer

“…Data of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) programme of the National Cancer Institute demonstrated that the proportion of breast cancers with a lobular component increased from 9.5% in 1987 to 15.6% in 1999 [6]. ILC is more difficult to diagnose clinically because it is less likely to present as a palpable lump and has a diffusely infiltrative growth which makes it difficult to visualize it by mammography and to determine the extent of the lesion [7,8]. In addition, ILC is more likely to be multicentric, multifocal and bilateral than ductal carcinoma [9].…”

The diffuse type of invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: morphology and prognosis

“…Many ILCs manifest on a mammogram as asymmetric, ill-defined densities [16]. The size of the tumor and the extent of the disease are frequently underestimated by the radiologist when compared with macroscopic and histological findings in these cases [30]. Difficulties in radiological detection and in the characterization of ILCs have mostly been attributed to the classic histological subtype of the disease [4] and, occasionally, were explained as a consequence of "diffuse growth" of the tumor [6].…”