Endocrine organ metastases in subjects with lobular carcinoma of the breast.

Objective: To define the frequency and pattern of endocrine organ metastases in patients dying of invasive lobular carcinoma.

Design: Postmortem microscopic evaluation of the ovaries and adrenal, pituitary, thyroid, and parathyroid glands for breast cancer metastases.

Setting: Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, between 1971 and 1990.

Subjects: One hundred eighteen subjects who died of their cancer: 86 had infiltrating ductal carcinoma; 32, invasive lobular carcinoma.

Mean Outcome Measure: Quantitative measurements to allow frequency determinations and statistical comparisons.

Results: Endocrine organ metastases were found in 91% of the subjects with invasive lobular carcinoma vs 58% of subjects with infiltrating ductal carcinoma. The adrenal gland was most frequently involved. Multiple endocrine metastases were most common in the group with invasive lobular carcinoma.

Conclusions: A relationship exists between invasive lobular carcinoma and endocrine metastases. This indicates that antemortem endocrine evaluation may subsequently improve quality-of-life treatment.