title: [Lobular carcinoma in situ: the mammographic aspects and the therapeutic problems].
abstract: Lobular carcinoma in situ is an uncommon noninvasive breast neoplasm; it accounts for about 0.8-3.8% of breast cancers and presents 3 peculiar characteristics: multicentricity (60-90%), bilaterality (35-59%), and the risk of invasive cancer (17-37%). The latter feature led some authors to consider this lesion as a marker of the development of an invasive cancer rather than a real malignant neoplasm. The main problem after histologic diagnosis is the choice of treatment: follow-up or surgery? Some authors reported, in the patients with lobular carcinoma in situ, the same incidence of ipsilateral invasive carcinoma as that in the normal population, which suggests a "wait and see" policy. This study, carried out on 27 patients (mean age: 49 years) with histologic diagnosis of lobular carcinoma in situ yielded the following aspecific mammographic findings: clustered microcalcifications; stellate masses and irregular nodular lesions with or without calcifications; architectural distortion with calcifications. In 10 surgical patients, 2 ductal carcinomas were demonstrated near the lobular carcinoma in situ. In the 17 patients submitted to follow-up, lobular carcinoma in situ recurrences were found in 4 patients at biopsy; a comedocarcinoma associated with a metastatic axillary node was found in one patient. Thus, we conclude that, in the patients with lobular carcinoma in situ, a "wait and see" policy of close observation should be adopted.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Scienze Radiologiche C. Bompiani, Università degli Studi, Sassari.
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Meloni
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Becchere
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Soro
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Profili
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Canalis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors
vernacular_title: II carcinoma lobulare in situ: aspetti mammografici e problematiche terapeutiche.