Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common histological subtype of breast cancer and is increasingly recognized as a biologically and clinically distinct disease entity. Its characteristic growth pattern, unique metastatic behavior, and frequent diagnostic challenges complicate disease detection, pathological interpretation, risk assessment, and treatment planning. Although historically grouped with other estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers, ILC demonstrates specific histomorphological, genomic, and molecular features that warrant more refined diagnostic and therapeutic frameworks.
Recent advances in pathology, molecular profiling, and translational oncology have improved our understanding of ILC heterogeneity and created new opportunities for more precise disease classification and patient stratification. Improved integration of histology, immunophenotyping, genomic alterations, transcriptomic features, and tumor microenvironmental characteristics is beginning to inform more individualized approaches to prognosis and therapy. At the same time, persistent gaps remain in the recognition of ILC-specific biomarkers, mechanisms of treatment response and resistance, and the development of subtype-informed clinical strategies.
This Research Topic aims to highlight current progress in the diagnostic and molecular characterization of invasive lobular carcinoma and to examine how greater biological precision can support therapeutic advances. We welcome contributions addressing the full continuum from histopathological assessment to molecular stratification, including studies that clarify disease taxonomy, identify clinically relevant biomarkers, refine prognostic models, or inform emerging treatment approaches. Particular interest is given to work that strengthens the translational bridge between diagnostic insight and therapeutic decision-making in ILC.
This Research Topic is particularly interested in, but not limited to:
o Histopathological features and diagnostic challenges specific to invasive lobular carcinoma
o Molecular and genomic characterization of ILC subtypes
o E-cadherin loss and associated biological mechanisms in ILC
o Biomarker discovery and validation for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment selection
o Transcriptomic, epigenetic, and proteomic profiling in ILC
o Tumor heterogeneity, clonal evolution, and metastatic patterns in ILC
o Imaging-pathology-molecular correlations relevant to ILC detection and classification
o Mechanisms of endocrine response, resistance, and therapeutic vulnerability
o The tumor microenvironment and immune contexture in ILC
o Translational and clinical strategies guided by molecular stratification in ILC
By bringing together research on the pathological, molecular, and clinical dimensions of invasive lobular carcinoma, this collection seeks to provide a focused view of how diagnostic precision can improve biological understanding and enable more effective therapeutic strategies. It will also help define key priorities for advancing ILC-specific research and precision oncology approaches in this underrecognized but clinically important breast cancer subtype.
Please note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent clinical or patient cohort, or biological validation in vitro or in vivo, which are not based on public databases) are not suitable for publication in this journal.
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Case Report
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Editorial
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Methods
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Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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