Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lucinda's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Subtype
- Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
- Sex
- Female
- Treatment
- surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, supportive care and surveillance
- Outcome
- Care Ongoing
Treatment course, step by step
- Breast cancer 10 years earlier was treated with lumpectomy and radiation
- April 2020 recurrence was first thought to involve the heart and ribs
- MD Anderson testing showed no heart spread, no metastatic disease, and scar tissue rather than rib or heart cancer
- Completed 16 local chemotherapy rounds: 12 paclitaxel, then 4 doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide
- Total mastectomy with complex wound closure was performed on December 8, 2020
- Exemestane hormone therapy followed surgery
- Supportive care helped hand neuropathy
- UT MD Anderson checkups continued every 6 months.
What happened, in summary
Lucinda Rudolph was 68 when an annual breast cancer screening in April 2020 led to a frightening local assessment. She had been treated for breast cancer 10 years earlier with lumpectomy and radiation, and this new cancer was initially described as metastatic, with suspected spread to her heart and ribs. She was told surgery was not an option and was given little hope. Her son encouraged her to seek care at MD Anderson. Testing there changed the picture: the cancer had not spread to her heart, and she did not have metastatic breast cancer. Instead, she had locally advanced recurrent breast cancer. Pathology showed invasive lobular carcinoma. Lucinda’s treatment plan included 16 rounds of chemotherapy, which she completed near home in Louisville: 12 rounds of paclitaxel followed by 4 rounds of doxorubicin hydrochloride and cyclophosphamide to shrink the tumors. She finished chemotherapy in November 2020. On December 8, 2020, she had a total mastectomy with complex wound closure. Her surgeon later explained that what had looked like cancer on the ribs and heart was actually scar tissue from prior radiation. After surgery, Lucinda started exemestane to reduce recurrence risk. As of June 2023, she had returned to travel and retirement life, continued every-6-month checkups at MD Anderson, and received supportive care for neuropathy in her hands.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by MD Anderson. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer