atypical lobular hyperplasia

[lucylu505]

i don't know why they want to remove the lump if it is not cancer. explain to me what does atypical lobular hyperplasia? why do i have to have surgery,

[Cleveland Clinic]

Dear lucylu505:  Atypical lobular hyperplasia means that there is an overgrowth of cells that do not appear normal in the lobules.  (Actually, Marylou did a good job on the description).  ALH increases the risk of developing cancer.  We are assuming that this was a needle or core biopsy and if this is the case, then the entire area of concern should be removed to be certain that the entire area is Atypical Lobular Hyperplasia and that there are no areas of actual cancer.  

[Marylou_II]

Atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH) is a term that describes the type of cells that the pathologist saw and where these cells originated.

Hyperplasia is the first type of abnormality in appearance. If you receive a diagnosis of hyperplasia it means that there are more cells than you would expect to see in the walls of the ducts or lobules, but that all of these cells appear normal. A diagnosis of hyperplasia does not put you at any increased risk for developing breast cancer, you family cancer history is important.

Atypia means that the cells look different from normal cells, but that they don't have all the features of cancer cells.

Lobular means that the cells that are acting unusual are in the lobules, the parts of the breast capable of making milk. The breast ducts are the passages that the milk travels through to get to the nipple.

You have atypia with hyperplasia, which means that the cells look different from normal and that there are more cells than you would expect to see. You can also have atypia without having hyperplasia. ALH does not always progress to the precancer lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) or cancer. In fact, it is not uncommon for a repeat biopsy in the same area of the breast to show entirely normal-appearing cells.

If the ALH is diagnosed on a core biopsy, the best practice would be to have an excisional biopsy (sometimes this is a wire localization excision) to look at the surrounding tissue to make sure that the ALH is not the tip of the iceberg. If it was diagnosed on the basis of an excisional biopsy, you should get more details about the size and severity of what was seen.

The standard treatment for ALH is close follow-up. This is because the presence of ALH increases your risk for breast cancer in both breasts. But it is important to put this increased risk in perspective.

Before you accept any procedure, the wisest thing to do would be to have a second opinion from a breast specialist.

Regards