Although invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast differs from invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in numerous respects - including its genetics, clinical phenotype, metastatic pattern, and chemosensitivity - most experts continue to manage ILC and IDC identically in the adjuvant setting.
Wong et al BMC Cancer 2014, 14:826 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/14/826 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Lobular breast cancers lack the inverse relationship between ER/PR status and cell growth rate characteristic of ductal cancers in two independent patient cohorts: implications for tumor biology and adjuvant therapy Hilda Wong1, Silvia Lau2, Polly Cheung3, Ting Ting Wong3, Andrew Parker4, Thomas Yau1* and Richard J Epstein5,6 Abstract Background: Although invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast differs from invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in numerous respects - including its genetics, clinical phenotype, metastatic pattern, and chemosensitivity - most experts continue to manage ILC and IDC identically in the adjuvant setting Here we address this discrepancy by comparing early-stage ILC and IDC in two breast cancer patient cohorts of differing nationality and ethnicity Methods: The clinicopathologic features of 2029 consecutive breast cancer patients diagnosed in Hong Kong (HK) and Australia (AUS) were compared Interrelationships between tumor histology and other clinicopathologic variables, including ER/PR and Ki67, were analysed Results: Two hundred thirty-nine patients were identified with ILC (11.8%) and 1790 patients with IDC AUS patients were older (p