Lobular carcinoma in situ no bar to conservative breast cancer therapy

Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) as a component of breast carcinoma does not increase the risk of local failure after breast-conserving surgery, researchers report in the January issue of Cancer.

They point out that LCIS is suspected of being a precursor of invasive lobular carcinoma. If so, "its presence at the margins of the lumpectomy specimens could impact the risk of subsequent in-breast tumor recurrence after breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy."As it turned out, senior investigator Dr. Lori J. Pierce told Reuters Health, "in our experience, using a matched pair analysis, the presence of LCIS did not alter excellent rates of long-term tumor control in the breast treated with conservative surgery and radiation."Dr. Pierce and colleagues at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor compared 64 patients with Stage 0 to II breast cancer with positive margins for LCIS and multifocal LCIS with 121 similar breast cancer patients without LCIS as part of their primary tumor. All underwent breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy at the investigators' center between 1989 and 2003.Follow up at 5 years (median 3.9 years) showed that local control persisted in all of the LCIS patients and 99.1% of the LCIS-free group. "Thus," concluded Dr. Pierce, "a tumor that is associated with LCIS that can be excised with negative margins for invasive disease or ductal carcinoma in situ, in a patient who otherwise is a good candidate for breast conservation, can be successfully treated with breast preservation."(Source: Cancer 2006;106:28-34: Reuters Health: Oncolink: February 2006.)