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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staff
Diagnosing invasive lobular carcinoma
Tests and procedures used to diagnose invasive lobular carcinoma include:
- Mammogram. A mammogram creates an X-ray image of your breast. Invasive lobular carcinoma is less likely to be detected on a mammogram than other types of breast cancer are. Still, a mammogram is a useful diagnostic test.
- Ultrasound. Ultrasound uses sound waves to create pictures of your breast.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI uses a strong magnetic field to create a picture of your breast. A breast MRI may help in evaluating your invasive lobular carcinoma if other imaging tests have been inconclusive.
- Removing a sample of tissue for testing. If an abnormality is detected, your doctor may recommend a biopsy procedure to remove a sample of suspicious breast tissue for laboratory testing. A breast biopsy can be done using a needle to draw out fluid or tissue from the breast, or breast tissue can be removed surgically.
Determining the extent of invasive lobular carcinoma
Once it's determined that you have invasive lobular carcinoma, doctor works to learn the extent, or stage, of your cancer. Depending on your situation, your doctor may recommend imaging tests to stage your breast cancer, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerized tomography (CT), among others.
Using this information, your doctor assigns your cancer a Roman numeral that indicates its stage. Breast cancer stages range from 0 to IV, with 0 indicating cancer that is very small and noninvasive. Stage IV breast cancer, also called metastatic breast cancer, indicates cancer that has spread to other areas of the body.
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- Breast cancer prevention (PDQ): Health professional version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/breast/healthprofessional/allpages/print. Accessed Feb. 16, 2010.
- Avis NE. Breast cancer survivors and hot flashes: The search for nonhormonal treatments. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2008;26:5008.
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- Goldflam K, et al. Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy: Predictors of significant histologic findings. Cancer. 2004;101:1977.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 9, 2010.
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