Stage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kathy's Patient Story

What happened, in summary

Kathy, a recently retired physician with a career in women’s health and pharmaceutical safety research, was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma in 2019. After years of regular mammograms, she had her first 3-D mammogram in August of that year. An abnormality in the left breast led to additional mammographic views and an ultrasound-guided biopsy, but those findings remained nonspecific. A bilateral MRI then changed the direction of the workup: the left side looked unremarkable, but the MRI revealed an abnormality in the right breast that mammography had not shown. When the surgeon reviewing the results seemed unsure of their significance, Kathy contacted a trusted specialist at a cancer referral center for a second opinion. That specialist immediately suspected the correct diagnosis. Almost 2 months after the initial mammogram, a right breast biopsy confirmed invasive lobular carcinoma, eventually staged as Stage IB. Kathy later reflected that the left-breast false alarm may have led to the MRI that found the right-breast cancer before it remained hidden longer. Her medical and research background led her to read deeply about ILC, and she became involved with the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance to help expand awareness, research, detection, and advocacy for this often-missed subtype.