Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer: Data to Support Surgical Decision Making

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is thought be a unique entity with higher rates of multifocal/multicentric and bilateral disease. This study aimed to evaluate the true extent of the disease, risk of bilaterality, lymph node involvement, and impact of preoperative imaging to help guide surgical decision making.

A retrospective analysis identified patients treated for ILC between 2004 and 2017. Clinical staging and pathologic results were compared. Follow-up details including local recurrence, contralateral breast cancer (CBC), and survival outcomes were evaluated.

The study identified 692 patients with ILC, including 43 patients (6%) with a diagnosis of CBC and 232 patients (33%) with a diagnosis of multifocal/multicentric disease at presentation. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) led to an identification of additional disease in 20% of the patients. Preoperative MRI resulted in a more accurate prediction of tumor size staging but did not improve the discordance between clinical and pathologic nodal staging. Overall, the rate of imaging occult lymph node disease was 24%. At the 6-year follow-up evaluation, a local recurrence had developed in 2.3%, a CBC in 2.3, and a distant metastasis in 9.4% of the patients. The overall survival rate was 96% at 3 years and 91% at 5 years.

Invasive lobular carcinoma is a distinct subset of cancer that poses a diagnostic staging challenge. The results of this study favor MRI for accurate tumor staging and for improving detection of multicentricity and bilaterality. However, clinicians should be aware of the higher likelihood of occult lymph node involvement with ILC and subsequent early metastasis.