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Being diagnosed with lobular breast cancer

Darlaine was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in 2016 after a mammogram appointment.

Darlaine was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in 2016 after a mammogram picked up a ‘suspicious’ blurry area.

She had four lumpectomies followed by a bilateral mastectomy.

One of the reasons why she chose to have a bilateral mastectomy was that she “didn’t want the psychological trauma of having to worry about whether it would be seen on a mammogram”.

Speaking to 5 Live’s Naga Munchetty, she said: “With my big, large breasts gone, it was quite freeing because it made me feel very differently about going forward. I didn’t want to keep going backwards and forwards.

“I kept reading about problems where people had recurrence in the same breast or in the other breast.”

Lobular breast cancer grows in a line or as single cells and rarely forms a lump so it’s much harder to spot than the more common ductal breast cancer.

According to Cancer Research UK, invasive lobular breast cancer is the second-most common type of breast cancer. It is also known as invasive lobular carcinoma. Around 15 in every 100 breast cancers (around 15%) are invasive lobular breast cancer.

This clip is originally from 5 Live Naga Munchetty on Tuesday 22nd July 2025.

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