HER2-Low Status In Early Stage ILC
The concept of HER2-low breast cancer has been proposed as a potential treatment target for breast cancers previously considered HER2-negative. In recent clinical trials, patients with HER2-low status have benefited from new therapeutic compounds that target HER2. However, the clinical implications of HER2-low status in invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) has not been explored before. In this study we looked at survival outcomes and treatment characteristics of patients with stage I-III ILC based on HER2 status. We found that patients with HER2-low ILC had worse disease-free survival compared to patients with HER2-negative ILC. We also found that HER2-low patients were more likely to underdo mastectomy than lumpectomy and more likely to have progesterone positive tumors. This study points at clinicopathologic differences in HER2-low ILC, but future research is needed to determine the potential benefit of HER2 targeted therapy for this patient population.
