ilc

[moogli]

what are symptoms of ilc

[SueYoung55]

Sorry, typo.. meant to say "does not happen often to men" referring to ILC.

[SueYoung55]

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. Treatment often involves receiving two or more drugs in different combinations. Chemotherapy can be given through a vein, taken in pill form or both ways. For invasive lobular carcinoma, chemotherapy is commonly used after surgery to kill any cells that may remain. Chemotherapy can also be used before surgery to shrink a tumor. For women with large breast tumors, chemotherapy before surgery may make it possible to choose lumpectomy over mastectomy.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams, such as X-rays, to kill cancer cells. During radiation therapy, you lie on a table while a large machine moves around you directing energy beams at precise points in your breast. Radiation therapy is often used after a lumpectomy to kill any remaining cancer cells in the breast and under the arm.
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy may be an option if your cancer relies on hormones to fuel its growth. Most invasive lobular carcinomas are hormone receptor positive, meaning they use hormones for fuel. A sample of your tumor cells is tested to determine whether your cancer is hormone receptor positive. If it is, hormone therapies can block your body from producing hormones or block the cancer cells' ability to use the hormone. One class of hormone therapy drugs called selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), which includes tamoxifen, can be used in women who are premenopausal and also those who have experienced menopause. Another class of hormone therapy drugs called aromatase inhibitors is useful only in women who have experienced menopause. This class includes the drugs anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin).
Your treatment options for invasive lobular carcinoma depend on your cancer, its stage, your overall health and your preferences. Treatment often consists of surgery and additional (adjuvant) therapy, which may include chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy.
Surgery
Surgery for invasive lobular carcinoma may include:
 Removing the cancer and small portion of healthy tissue. Called a lumpectomy or a wide local excision, this procedure allows you to keep most of your breast tissue. The surgeon removes the tumor itself, as well as a margin of normal tissue surrounding the tumor to make sure all the cancer that can be removed is taken out. Negative or "clean" margins reduce the chance of leaving any cancer in the breast. If the margins are positive, you may need additional surgery until negative margins are achieved, or the surgeon may decide to remove the entire breast.
 Removing all of the breast tissue. Mastectomy is an operation to remove all of your breast tissue. Mastectomy can be simple, meaning the surgeon removes all of the breast tissue — the lobules, ducts, fatty tissue and skin, including the nipple and areola. Another option is a modified radical mastectomy, which involves removing all of the breast tissue, as well as removing some of the skin and lymph nodes in the armpit nearest to the affected breast.
 Sentinel lymph node biopsy. To determine whether cancer has spread to the lymph nodes near your breast, your surgeon identifies the lymph node that receives the lymph drainage from your cancer. This lymph node is removed and tested for breast cancer cells (sentinel node biopsy). If no cancer is found, the chance of finding cancer in any of the remaining nodes is small and no other nodes need to be removed.
 Axillary lymph node dissection. If cancer is found in the sentinel node, then your surgeon removes additional lymph nodes in your armpit (axillary lymph node dissection). Knowing if cancer has spread to the lymph nodes helps determine the best course of treatment, including whether you'll need chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. Treatment often involves receiving two or more drugs in different combinations. Chemotherapy can be given through a vein, taken in pill form or both ways. For invasive lobular carcinoma, chemotherapy is commonly used after surgery to kill any cells that may remain. Chemotherapy can also be used before surgery to shrink a tumor. For women with large breast tumors, chemotherapy before surgery may make it possible to choose lumpectomy over mastectomy.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams, such as X-rays, to kill cancer cells. During radiation therapy, you lie on a table while a large machine moves around you directing energy beams at precise points in your breast. Radiation therapy is often used after a lumpectomy to kill any remaining cancer cells in the breast and under the arm.
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy may be an option if your cancer relies on hormones to fuel its growth. Most invasive lobular carcinomas are hormone receptor positive, meaning they use hormones for fuel. A sample of your tumor cells is tested to determine whether your cancer is hormone receptor positive. If it is, hormone therapies can block your body from producing hormones or block the cancer cells' ability to use the hormone. One class of hormone therapy drugs called selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), which includes tamoxifen, can be used in women who are premenopausal and also those who have experienced menopause. Another class of hormone therapy drugs called aromatase inhibitors is useful only in women who have experienced menopause. This class includes the drugs anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin).

[SueYoung55]

Thickening of the breast and you would need to be female since this breast cancer does not happen to men.

In my case I went from being very active to a couch potato and I couldn't understand why. I was healthy and taught dance 3 nights a week along with working a full time job. I was fatigued. And of note my bra's never seem to fit me. I kept pulling and pulling and pulling at the band under my right arm. Why? That's where my breast had thickend. It was 4 extra inches of thickening. You couldn't see it or feel it.

Here is some information for you.

Invasive lobular carcinoma is a type of breast cancer that begins in the milk-producing glands (lobules) of the breast. Invasive lobular carcinoma is invasive cancer, which means the cancer cells have broken out of the lobule where they began and they have the potential to spread to other areas of the body.
Invasive lobular carcinoma makes up a small portion of all breast cancers. The most common type of breast cancer begins in the breast ducts (ductal carcinoma). Some breast cancers contain both lobular and ductal cancer cells.
Invasive lobular carcinoma typically doesn't form a lump, as most women expect with breast cancer. Instead, invasive lobular carcinoma more often causes a thickening of the tissue or fullness in one part of the breast.
At its earliest stages, invasive lobular carcinoma may cause no signs and symptoms. As it grows larger, invasive lobular carcinoma may cause:
 An area of thickening in part of the breast
 A new area of fullness or swelling in the breast
 A change in the texture or appearance of the skin over the breast, such as dimpling or thickening
Invasive lobular carcinoma is less likely than other forms of breast cancer to cause a firm breast lump.
It's not clear what causes invasive lobular carcinoma.
How invasive lobular carcinoma forms
Doctors know that invasive lobular carcinoma begins when cells in one or more milk-producing glands of the breast develop mutations in their DNA. The mutations tell the cells to divide and grow rapidly. The cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body.
The earliest marker of abnormal cells within the lobule is a condition that's referred to as lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). Although the term includes the word "carcinoma," LCIS is not cancer. Instead, LCIS is considered an indicator of increased risk of breast cancer.
At some point, abnormal cells may break out of the lobules and invade or "infiltrate" the surrounding tissue, becoming invasive lobular carcinoma. Lobular carcinoma cells tend to break out of the lobule in single file, then invade surrounding breast tissue in a web-like manner. The affected area may have a different feel from normal breast tissue, but it is unlikely to feel like a lump.
Factors that may increase your risk of invasive lobular carcinoma include:
 Being female. Women are more likely to develop breast cancer, but men can also develop breast cancer.
 Older age. Your risk of breast cancer increases as you age. Women with invasive lobular carcinoma tend to be a few years older than women diagnosed with other types of breast cancer.
 Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). If you've been diagnosed with LCIS — abnormal cells confined within breast lobules — your risk of developing invasive cancer in either breast is increased. LCIS isn't cancer, but is an indication of increased breast cancer risk.
 Postmenopausal hormone use. Use of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone during and after menopause has been shown to increase the risk of invasive lobular carcinoma. Researchers believe the hormones may stimulate tumor growth and also make tumors more difficult to see on mammograms. It's not clear whether newer hormone regimens, including lower dose combinations, could also increase the risk of invasive lobular carcinoma.
 Inherited genetic cancer syndromes. Women with a rare inherited condition called hereditary diffuse gastric cancer syndrome have an increased risk of both stomach (gastric) cancer and invasive lobular carcinoma. Women with certain inherited genes may have an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
Complications of invasive lobular carcinoma may include:
 Cancer in the other breast. Invasive lobular carcinoma is more likely to occur in both breasts compared with other types of breast cancer. If you're diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma in one breast, your doctor may recommend examination of the other breast to look for signs of cancer.
 Cancer that spreads to other areas of the body. Invasive lobular carcinoma is slow to spread (metastasize) beyond the breast, but it can spread to other areas of the body.
Your treatment options for invasive lobular carcinoma depend on your cancer, its stage, your overall health and your preferences. Treatment often consists of surgery and additional (adjuvant) therapy, which may include chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy.
Surgery
Surgery for invasive lobular carcinoma may include:
 Removing the cancer and small portion of healthy tissue. Called a lumpectomy or a wide local excision, this procedure allows you to keep most of your breast tissue. The surgeon removes the tumor itself, as well as a margin of normal tissue surrounding the tumor to make sure all the cancer that can be removed is taken out. Negative or "clean" margins reduce the chance of leaving any cancer in the breast. If the margins are positive, you may need additional surgery until negative margins are achieved, or the surgeon may decide to remove the entire breast.
 Removing all of the breast tissue. Mastectomy is an operation to remove all of your breast tissue. Mastectomy can be simple, meaning the surgeon removes all of the breast tissue — the lobules, ducts, fatty tissue and skin, including the nipple and areola. Another option is a modified radical mastectomy, which involves removing all of the breast tissue, as well as removing some of the skin and lymph nodes in the armpit nearest to the affected breast.
 Sentinel lymph node biopsy. To determine whether cancer has spread to the lymph nodes near your breast, your surgeon identifies the lymph node that receives the lymph drainage from your cancer. This lymph node is removed and tested for breast cancer cells (sentinel node biopsy). If no cancer is found, the chance of finding cancer in any of the remaining nodes is small and no other nodes need to be removed.
 Axillary lymph node dissection. If cancer is found in the sentinel node, then your surgeon removes additional lymph nodes in your armpit (axillary lymph node dissection). Knowing if cancer has spread to the lymph nodes helps determine the best course of treatment, including whether you'll need chemotherapy or radiation therapy.