A Clinical Study of Infiltrating Lobular Breast Cancer

Kim, Jung Mo; Kim, Young Chul; Noh, Dong Young; Yong, Yeo Kyu; Oh, Seung Keun; Choe, Kuk Jin

Abstract

PURPOSE: Infiltrating lobular carcinoma of the breast was known to have a high incidence of multicentricity and bilaterality in patients. We analyzed the clinical features of infiltrating lobular breast cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We studied 29 patients with infiltrating lobular carcinoma of the breast, from Jan. 1980 to Mar. 1997 in the Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital.
RESULTS
The age of the patients ranged from 32 to 71 years with an average of 45.2 years. The main complaining symptom was a painless mass. The diameter of the tumor ranged from 0.7 to 7 cm with a mean size of 2.8 cm. The axillary lymph node was positive for malignancy in 12 cases. The number of multicentric breast cancers were 7 cases (24.1%), and the number of bilateral breast cancers were 3 cases (10.3%). The estrogen receptor was positive in 66.7%, and the progesterone receptor was positive in 75% of the cases. There were one local recurrence and three distant metastases during a mean follow-up period of 4.5 years. The 5-year survival rate and 5-year disease free survival rate were 89.6% and 88.6%, respectively.
CONCLUSION
Infiltrating lobular breast cancers are at greater risk of developing multicentricity and bilaterality than nonlobular breast cancers. Careful program of frequent follow-up examinations and thorough histopathological studies are needed for patients with infiltrating lobular breast cancers.