Mri can detect invasive labular carcinoma?

Hi Rizz,

Sorry to join the discussion a bit late. Strangely I had this very same discussion with my surgeon this week... Just had an appointment to discuss the result of my Mx. She has a lot of experience and started medicine before MRI was available. She repeated again that ILC is a very sneaky cancer. When she started her practice, she twice operated on women who said that they "felt" that their breast tissue were different although nothing was picked up by neither the mammography/ultra sound and they were both right.

She said that since the MRI was introduced as a diagnostic tool, she now steadily ask for an MRI for her patient with ILC once a year. So I'll have a mammography and an MRI every year for the next 5 years on my remaining healthy breast. I am sorry that I cannot comment on the financial aspect of it as I'm Canadian.

Hope this help ! Sorry if this comes a bit late...

I guess I am not in the norm here, but my doctor wouldn't let me get an MRI. She believes she is more 'liberal' or open to MRIs than other docs that now say absolutely not, depending on the case. According to her, there are too many false positives with MRI and they can cloud the picture more than help it in certain cases, like mine. I was fortunate enough to have microcalcifications that were in a suspicious pattern on the 3D mammo. I always have an US with mammo due to dense breasts, but the US didn't show a tumor either. The core biopsy only showed LCIS, though it had comedonecrosis, which is often suspect. My tumor (2.5mm) was not discovered until my lumpectomy. My surgeon said she only sees a few cases like mine per year where everything including the core, missed the cancer.

I personally know so many women that had breast cancer, and all of our stories are unique. The only thing I know for certain is that every single breast cancer case is different, and the more research that is done on breast cancer the more the medical community realizes that it's not really one disease, but many. Have faith in whatever you believe in, but primarily in yourself to make the best decision for you, and in your surgeon's guidance.

ILC only affects less than 10% of all women; 90% of women have ductal breast cancer. The breast clinic said lobular is very tricky to find. I'm learning that there is no common theme in diagnosing ILC. My mammogram found irregularity, yet core needle biopsy, ultra sound and MRI did not find cancer cells. In fairness the biopsy indicated LCIS. I made decision for bi-lateral MX with immediate breast reconstruction. Days after surgery the pathology report indicated Grade 2, Stage 1 cancer. The surgery team are convinced the cancer cells were there 6 months earlier and just got missed by all the tests. Had I been told 6 months earlier I had a cancer lump would I have made the decision to have a bi-lateral mastectomy - I don't know. Now I'm coming into the cancer clinic through the backdoor, as most women have a diagnosis before surgery, and I'm the reverse.
In my opinion lobular needs better management. I am still very grateful but it is a brutal surgery.

Hi Rizz, you should definitely get a MRI, mine was not detected by mammogram. If you don’t have insurance and can’t afford, MRI, then get an ultrasound if you can.

Best wishes,

Sara

I had a regular mammogram, it by chance picked up a spot. I had an ultrasound it showed 3 spots. I had a DM the pathology came back showing 8 spots. All in the right breast. Lobular carcinoma is very hard to detect. My stage is 2b grade 2. I feel lucky to have had it found.