Breast Oncology Education

Dr. Rohit Bhargava calls attention to the fact that invasive lobular cancer is the most common subtype of breast cancer and how its significant clinical and pathologic characteristics differs IBC-NST.

Dr. Matthew Covington discusses the challenges of imaging invasive lobular carcinoma and how, ultimately, the intricacies of its infiltrative, 'single file' growth pattern may impact patient care and lead to worse patient outcomes.

Dr. Rebecca Shatsky focuses on ILC’s unique characteristics, its under-representation in clinical trials and highlights that the evaluation and treatment plan for ILC may need to differ from other breast cancer subtypes.

Dr. Rita Mukhtar recognizes the challenges inherent in ILC surgery, requiring strategic and informed approaches to ensure optimal patient outcomes.

Dr. Rohit Bhargava reviews the National Cancer Institute’s definition of heterogeneity, classifies its different types, and explains how pathologists assess this molecular data.

Dr. Jane Meisel discusses how heterogeneity adds to the complexity of disease, bringing significant challenges to clinicians, in addition to reviewing the impact of heterogeneity on solid tumors and highlighting the prevalence of phenotypic discordance between a primary lesion and metastatic sites in breast cancer.

Drs. Carlos Barrios and Adam Brufsky conversation identifies tumor heterogeneity as a barrier to personalized or precision medicine. Their dialogue reviews the current benefits, and limitations, of diagnostic options including (but not limited to) single tumor biopsy, liquid biopsy, radiomics, and positron emission tomography.