Below we summarize data published since 2019 concerning survival and risk of recurrence of women with early-stage invasive lobular breast cancer. However, please note that outcomes can vary greatly depending on numerous factors. Also, the data represents snapshots from studies that were conducted using different populations under a variety of circumstances.
Furthermore, most studies that calculate survival do not present the results as simple percentages. Therefore, the numbers below are somewhat inconsistent and far from complete or definitive and should not be used to calculate your likely recurrence-free survival. However, the statistics are useful in getting a general idea of lobular breast cancer prognosis and to compare outcomes depending on treatment and other factors.
Definition of recurrence & survival terms
Progression-free survival means that no recurrence, metastasis or breast cancer-related death took place during the specified period. Overall survival means that no death occurred from any cause (this includes both breast cancer and non-breast cancer-specific causes). Breast cancer-specific survival refers to the percentage of patients who did not die from breast cancer during the specified period.
Lobular breast cancer recurrence & survival data
Patient and treatment characteristics → Likelihood of outcome
Overall survival
- Three-year overall survival → 96%
- Five-year overall survival → 83% to 91%
- Ten-year overall survival → 65%
- Fifteen-year overall survival → 50%
Breast cancer-specific survival
- Five-year breast cancer-specific survival → 95%
Receptor status
- ER+/PR+: Five-year progression-free survival → 92%
- ER-/PR-/HER2-: Five-year progression-free survival → 47%
- ER-/PR-/HER2-: Five-year overall survival → 52%
Stage T1-2
- Treated with lumpectomy: Five-year progression-free survival → 92%
Lymph node positive
- Stage T1-4, N1-3, neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Ten-year overall survival → 54%
- Stage T1-4, N1-3, adjuvant chemotherapy: Ten-year overall survival → 65%
Ratio of positive lymph nodes to number of nodes identified (LNR)
- Lymph node negative (N0): Five-year overall survival → 94%
- Low risk (LNR ≤ 0.2): Five-year overall survival → 92%
- Intermediate risk (LNR > 0.2 and ≤ 0.65): Five-year overall survival → 86%
- High risk (LNR > 0.659): Five-year overall survival → 59%
Below are links to recent studies concerning this topic. Please also see our article on lobular breast cancer prognosis, which describes factors that drive outcomes in this type of breast cancer.