Distinct Clinical and Prognostic Features of Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer

Abstract

When in the early 1940s pathologists started to subcategorize breast carcinomas based on their histology the key development of subdividing breast cancer into different diseases began [9]. About 60 years later distinguishing various breast cancer subtypes has become a major focus of research at the level of genomic structure and gene expression [2,15,32]. Invasive lobular carcinoma is the second most frequent histological type of breast carcinoma, found in about 5– 15% of patients [1,24,25]. Based on estimations of the World health organization 100.000 – 150.000 new cases per year of invasive lobular carcinoma are diagnosed worldwide. The analyses of large patient series have uncovered distinct clinical features for infiltrating lobular (ILC) and infiltrating ductal (IDC) breast carcinoma. In addition, the most recent studies with long term follow-up suggest that ILC and IDC also differ in their pattern of disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Here we review newer findings and discuss possible implications of this knowledge for clinical practice and research in breast cancer.