Awaiting MRI results ILC

Amanda702

Just curious as I wait for breast MRI results...

If ILC is not formed as a lump but rather lines, where is the tumor?

If it cannot be felt and not seen on mammo or ultrasound why are these used in diagnosing or suspecting ILC why not skip that and go straight to breast MRI?

Icietla

Mammography is typical breast cancer screening. Ultrasound may be needed instead or in addition for screening, depending on breast density; otherwise, it can be used in addition to diagnostic mammography. ILC has been known to hide from mammography and ultrasound imaging, but it does not in all cases. Of those three standard medical imaging techniques, MRI is the most likely to detect ILC -- but this is not to say that the other methods are unlikely to detect it. As for single-file, one-cell-thick growths, it is doubtful that those tumor configurations would be detected by MRI. My ILC tumor was detected from mammography, and it showed up in ultrasound imaging too.

The ILC tumor is wherever it is.

Well, there is a big difference in cost, for one thing. For another, there is necessarily allocation of scarce resources. There are only so many MRI machines in any given locale, There are always people needing and waiting for MRIs. Why delay anyone's necessary evaluation and treatment for someone else to take a shortcut that may be unnecessary?

Breast cancer screening is not done specifically to look for ILC. It is done to look for possible indications of breast cancer. There are numerous general types of breast cancer. Nobody knows before a screening mammogram or ultrasound exam is done what abnormalities, if any, will show up in that imaging. One more thing -- if it is ILC, the Pathologist/s -- not the Radiologist/s -- would be the first to know. Why skip mammography and ultrasound to use MRI instead when mammography and/or ultrasound might be adequate imaging in your case ?

Amanda702

Thank you for your response. It was very thorough, I thought or at least was told it's almost impossible to suspect ILC on dense breast. I'm stumped as to why my Dr. never suggested MRI as my mamo and ultrasound are neg read by two radiologists but ILC runs on my paternal side and I've been having breast pain and breast inflammation. If it weren't for this group and what I've learned here I would've just chalked this up as a whatever but I had to push and push for a breast MRI.

Icietla

You are very welcome. Your Health Care Professionals have been proceeding in the right order to try to find out what could account for your pain. It is not unusual for one breast to be or appear to be a bit larger than the other, but pain is not normal, and you are doing the right thing to have it checked out.

Dense breasts tend to obscure tumors in mammography. ILC can be invisible in medical imaging because of its sometimes having that wispy, single-cell-thick strand arrangement, and also because ILC tumors can be less dense than the breast tissue in which they are situated -- so yes, breast density can be especially confounding of ILC detection.

All the medical imaging techniques have their limitations, and they.are all good for their uses. Please continue with your regular screening. Just as ILC -- one of the minority breast cancer types -- can be capable of hiding in mammograms, it can be capable of detection too. Because of your family seeming to have a breast cancer pattern, and because you have had some breast health issues, you might be a candidate for genetic testing, and you might be a candidate for a program of increased surveillance (or more frequent examinations) for higher risk persons. Ask your Doctor.

Something else you should know -- MRI is sensitive imaging, so sensitive that it may indicate areas of concern that are not diseased. If a biopsy is recommended for you, that does not mean that you have cancer. Most breast biopsies are found to be of benign conditions.

We hope you will be able to have your concerning breast changes explained soon, and that there is not a serious health problem.

Icietla

Here is a BCO discussion thread that will explain a great deal to you.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/71/topics/852819