According to a multidisciplinary team led by University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) scientists, invasive lobular carcinoma,the second-most common type of breast cancer, is a very different disease than the most common form and appears to be a good candidate for a personalized approach to treatment.
Invasive lobular carcinoma or ILC (photo 1), also called infiltrating lobular carcinoma, which is characterized by a unique growth pattern in breast tissue that fails to form a lump, has distinct genetic markers that indicate there may be benefits from drug therapies beyond those typically prescribed for the more common invasive ductal carcinoma (photo 2). The results are published in the March 1, 2014 issue of the journal Cancer Research.[1]
Data from the American Cancer Society (ACS) shows that more than 180,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer each year. About 10% of all invasive breast cancers are invasive lobular carcinomas.
Same drug different outcome
Patients with invasive lobular carcinoma are typically treated through surgical removal of the cancer, followed by chemotherapy or hormone therapy or both, usually with the estrogen-mimicking drug tamoxifen (Nolvadex?, AstraZeneca) or estrogen-lowering aromatase inhibitors, the same as patients with invasive ductal carcinoma. “However, recent analyses have shown that a subset of patients with lobular carcinoma receive less benefit from adjuvant tamoxifen than patients with ductal carcinoma,” explained senior author Steffi Oesterreich, Ph.D., professor at UPCI, a partner with UPMC CancerCenter, and director of education at the Women’s Cancer Research Center. “Our study, the largest of its kind, indicates an issue with the estrogen receptors inside lobular carcinoma cells and points to a potential target for drug therapy in future clinical trials, which we are developing.”
The UPCI study, funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) and the U.S. Department of Defense, included collaborations across multiple disciplines, ranging from biostatistics and biomedical informatics to pathology and human genetics, in order to produce results with the potential for rapid translation into clinical therapies.
“In addition to its potential clinical implications, the study highlights the need for more and better models mimicking invasive lobular cancer that can be used for laboratory studies,” noted lead author Matthew Sikora, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate at UPCI.
Great need
“Because lobular carcinomas account for only 10 to 15% of breast cancers, while ductal carcinomas make up nearly 80%, lobular carcinomas are a less attractive option for laboratory study,” Sikora said. “However, 30,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with lobular carcinoma every year, so there is a great need for further study of this disease.”
For more information:
[1] Sikora MJ, Cooper KL, Bahreini A, Luthra S, Wang G, Chandran UR, et al. Invasive lobular carcinoma cell lines are characterized by unique estrogen-mediated gene expression patterns and altered tamoxifen response. Cancer Res. 2014 Jan 14. [Epub ahead of print][Article][PubMed]
Photo 1: Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) cells (blue/purple) invade healthy breast tissue (pink) in the characteristic ‘single-file’ manner, and do not form an easily detectable lump or mass. Photo 2 Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) cells (blue/purple) fill the entire image, as they have formed a large lump or mass in the patient’s breast. Photo Courtesy: University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences (UPCI)
Copyright ? 2014 InPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of InPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of InPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication.InPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Onco’Zine and Oncozine are registered trademarks and trademarks of Sunvalley Communication around the world.
