Database analysis of survival outcomes in premenopausal patients with invasive lobular carcinoma in the United States and South Korea

The disparate prognostic implications of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) have been demonstrated among postmenopausal women. However, information on premenopausal patients remains insufficient. Analysis of the SEER database and two databases in South Korea investigated survival outcomes among 225,938 patients with a diagnosis of IDC or ILC before age 50 years between 1990 and 2015 found that breast cancer specific survival was better among ILC patients than IDC patients during the first ten years after diagnosis, but worse after year ten. The authors conclude that among premenopausal women, patients with ILC have worse long-term survival outcomes that patients with IDC, which can be attributed to a higher late recurrence rate of ILC than that of IDC. Histological subtype should be considered when determining type and duration of endocrine therapy in premenopausal women.