Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
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. Invasive lobular carcinoma may be more difficult to detect with ultrasound than may other types of breast cancer.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI uses a strong magnetic field to create a picture of your breast. A breast MRI may help in evaluating the extent of the disease within your breast 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, your 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.
- Rakha EA, et al. Lobular breast carcinoma and its variants. Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology. 2010;27:49.
- Chen WY. Postmenopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer risk: Current status and unanswered questions. Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America. 2011;40:509.
- Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/208746819-4/0/1709/0.html. Accessed April 24, 2012.
- Breast cancer. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines.asp. Accessed April 24, 2012.
- Biglia N, et al. Increased incidence of lobular breast cancer in women treated with hormone replacement therapy: Implications for diagnosis, surgical and medical treatment. Endocrine-Related Cancer. 2007;14:549.
- Schrader KA, et al. Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer: Association with lobular breast cancer. Familial Cancer. 2008;7:73.
- Breast cancer treatment (PDQ). National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/breast/healthprofessional. Accessed April 24, 2012.
- Breast cancer prevention (PDQ). National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/breast/healthprofessional. Accessed April 24, 2012.
- Avis NE. Breast cancer survivors and hot flashes: The search for nonhormonal treatments. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2008;26:5008.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 7, 2012.
Find Mayo Clinic on