Comparison of the Imaging Features of Lobular Carcinoma In Situ and Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast

Purpose To investigate the usefulness of imaging features for differentiating between small lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Materials and Methods It included 52 female with LCISs (median 45 years, range 32–67 years) and 180 female with ILCs (median 49 years, range 36–75 years), with the longest diameter of ≤ 2 cm, who were evaluated between January 2012 and December 2016. All the female underwent mammography and ultrasonography. Twenty female with LCIS and 150 female with ILC underwent MRI. The clinical and imaging features were compared, and multivariate analysis was performed to identify the independent predictors of LCIS. Female with LCIS were also subgrouped by lesion size and compared with the female with ILC. Results Multivariate analysis showed that younger age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.100), smaller lesion size (OR = 1.103), oval or round shape (OR = 4.098), parallel orientation (OR = 5.464), and isoechotexture (OR = 3.360) were significant independent factors predictive of LCIS. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for distinguishing LCIS from ILC was 0.904 (95% confidence interval, 0.857–0.951). Subgroup analysis showed that benign features were more prevalent in female with smaller LCISs (≤ 1 cm) than in those with ILC. Conclusion Small LCISs tend to demonstrate more benign features than small ILCs. Several imaging features are independently predictive of LCIS.