Stage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Patty's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage I
- Subtype
- Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
- Biomarkers
- Hormone therapy used to lower estrogen; receptor results not otherwise reported
- Sex
- Female
- Treatment
- surgery, reconstruction, radiation and hormone therapy
- Outcome
- Care Ongoing
Treatment course, step by step
- Routine mammogram found an abnormal area in the left breast, diagnosed as DCIS
- Pre-surgery MRI also found Stage IB invasive lobular breast cancer in the right breast
- Follow-up tests found lymph-node spread
- Treatment included double mastectomy and reconstruction with expanders
- Received 16 radiation treatments to the right chest
- Takes a daily hormone-therapy pill to lower estrogen.
What happened, in summary
Patty Schone was 63 when a routine mammogram found an abnormality in her left breast. At first, she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, in that breast and was scheduled for a mastectomy. Because Patty had dense breast tissue, her surgeon ordered a bilateral MRI before surgery. That extra imaging found a more serious cancer in the other breast: Stage IB invasive lobular carcinoma in the right breast. Follow-up testing showed it had spread to a lymph node. Patty’s nursing background helped her ask questions, research carefully, and explain the diagnosis to her family, but the second finding was still emotionally overwhelming. Her treatment included a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction with expanders. She also received 16 radiation treatments to the right chest because of the lymph-node involvement. She now takes a daily hormone-therapy pill to help keep estrogen levels low, which can help slow growth or reduce the chance of recurrence for this type of invasive lobular cancer. Patty’s story is a reminder that dense breast tissue can make cancer harder to see on mammograms and that follow-up MRI can reveal disease that might otherwise be missed.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by American Cancer Society. 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