Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy

Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: A Distinctive Entity

The clinical management of breast cancer is primarily structured around molecular subtype (i.e. hormone receptor positive, HER2 positive, or triple negative), which guides the clinical course; with lesser emphasis placed on other classifiers notably histology type. Invasive breast carcinomas are largely ductal with regard to histology and thus standards of care and clinical trials are heavily represented by patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Patients with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) comprise roughly 15% of all cases, which given the high frequency of breast cancer translates to a large population that are categorically underrepresented in this process. Unique features and clinical behaviors associated with ILC are well appreciated in practice and in the literature, yet standard of care guidelines are not reflective of this. The goal of this Article Collection is to highlight the nuances in the management of ILC and the advances made to better understand the implications of these distinctive features.