Collective Wisdom: Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast.

Breast cancer researchers have a longstanding fascination for infiltrating lobular carcinomas. Second in frequency only to ductal adenocarcinomas, these tumors are characterized by unique histopathology and (among breast cancers) distinctive clinical biology, both in the primary and metastatic settings. Early hints regarding the underlying sources of this peculiar cancer, in particular the important role of E-cadherin loss, have now been confirmed through comprehensive molecular portraits of the disease. These molecular observations, in turn, go far to explain how lobular carcinomas play out in the clinic, both as regards local control and therapeutic response to systemic therapy. Together, the “collective wisdom” of the laboratory and the clinic paint an interesting portrait of this fascinating disease.