What is Lobular Carcinoma In Situ?:
The hollow glands or lobules where milk accumulates in the breast sometimes fill with abnormal ("atypical") cells. This is a precancerous condition and does not directly lead to breast cancer. In situ is a Latin phrase meaning in place, or in this instance, it means the abnormal cells are contained in one place (not spread into other tissue.) However, women who have LCIS stand a greater than average risk of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives.
LCIS Signs and Symptoms:
There are no signs or symptoms ordinarily associated with LCIS such as lumps or even abnormalities on a mammogram. The only way LCIS can be diagnosed is through a breast biopsy.
LCIS Treatment:
In the past, women with LCIS sometimes were advised to have a mastectomy. Current practice considers this unnecessary, because most women with LCIS will never develop breast cancer. A lumpectomy will be sufficient in most cases. Women who have been diagnosed with LCIS are often advised by their doctors to have regular mammograms (once every year or two), and also have clinical breast examinations performed by a physician once or twice a year.
