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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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Breast Cancer |
Lobular Breast Cancer05/13/2003 |
My mother was just diagnosed with lobular breast cancer. I`m unfamiliar with this type of cancer ~ could you give me some information on it?
Thank you for your question. Other women may want this information as well. A woman`s breast is made up mostly of fatty tissue that supports the milk producing glands. Each breast has 12-20 lobes. Within each lobe there are hundreds of lobules which produce milk when a woman is breast feeding. The milk moves from the lobules through ducts to the nipples. Behind the nipple each duct expands to create a reservoir called a lactiferous sinus. The most common type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma in which the cancer begins in the ducts (approximately 86%). Another type of breast cancer is called lobular carcinoma in which the cancer begins in the lobules(approximately 12%). In both types (ductal and lobular) there is a pre-invasive disease called "in situ". This means it is localized or non-invasive that may or may not progress to invasive cancer. It is also called precancer by some clinicians. The invasive cancer of both types(ductal and lobular) means the tumor has invaded outside of the duct or lobule to the surrounding breast tissue. Lobular invasive carcinoma occurs in about 8% of breast cancers. With lobular cancer, there may be several areas within the same breast or opposite breast affected by either invasive or pre-cancerous(in situ) disease at the same time. Lobular cancer in situ (LCIS) often does not grow into cancer but does indicate the woman is at high risk for developing breast cancer. LCIS also does not always occur in the same area, so removing the lobe will not reduce the risk. The treatment for LCIS is close follow-up with regular breast self-examination each month, and medical checks and mammograms every year. A drastic option is bilateral prophylactic mastectomy as a preventive measure from ever getting breast cancer.
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Janet Trigg, RN, MSN, EdD Formerly: College of Nursing University of Cincinnati |
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