Invasive lobular breast carcinoma appropriate for personalized treatment

Invasive lobular breast carcinoma appropriate for personalized treatment

4 Apr 2014

The 2nd most common breast cancer subtype is a unique disease and appears to be a good candidate for a targeted treatment approach, according to new research.

Invasive lobular carcinoma has distinct genetic markers

Invasive lobular carcinoma, characterized by a unique growth pattern in breast tissue that fails to form a lump, has distinct genetic markers which indicate drug therapies may provide benefits beyond those typically prescribed for the more common invasive ductal carcinoma. The results recently were published in Cancer Research and were expanded upon at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014.

Patients with invasive lobular carcinoma typically are treated through surgical removal of the cancer, followed by chemotherapy or hormone therapy or both, usually with the estrogen-mimicking drug tamoxifen or estrogen-lowering aromatase inhibitors, the same as patients with invasive ductal carcinoma.

Less benefit from adjuvant tamoxifen

"However, recent analyses suggest that a subset of patients with lobular carcinoma receive less benefit from adjuvant tamoxifen than patients with ductal carcinoma," said lead author Matthew Sikora, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate at UPCI, and recipient of this year's AACR-Susan G. Komen Scholar-in-Training Award for this research.

"Our study, the largest of its kind, indicates an issue with the estrogen receptors inside lobular carcinoma cells and points to potential targets for drug therapy in future clinical trials, which we are developing."

 

 

Source: Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140404140209.htm