Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41720822›Full record

ArticleNPJ breast cancer2026

Clinical and histopathological characterization of metastatic lobular breast cancer: lessons learned from post-mortem tissue donation programs.

Gitte Zels, Karen Van Baelen, Alexander Cc Chang, Anirudh Pabba, Maxim De Schepper, Marion Maetens, François Richard, Josephine Van Cauwenberge, Tatjana Geukens, Kristien Borremans and 27 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ breast cancer, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Toward targeted therapeutics for lobular breast cancer.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

37 authors.

Gitte Zels *Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Karen Van Baelen *Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Alexander Cc Chang *UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Anirudh PabbaLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Maxim De SchepperLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Marion MaetensLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
François RichardLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Josephine Van CauwenbergeLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Tatjana GeukensLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Kristien BorremansLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Amena MahdamiLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Ha Linh NguyenLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Sophia LeducLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Patrick NevenDepartment of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Hans WildiersDepartment of General Medical Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Vincent VandecaveyeDepartment of Radiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Raphaëla DresenDepartment of Radiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Wouter Van Den BogaertDepartment of Forensic Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Rohit BhargavaDepartment of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee-Womens Hospital, UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Tanner BartholowDepartment of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee-Womens Hospital, UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Neil CarletonUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Ye CaoUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Jie Bin LiuUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Abdalla WednUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Hunter WaltermireUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Morgan CodyUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Lori MillerUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Margaret Q RosenzweigUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Julia FoldiUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Marija BalicUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Christoper DeibleDepartment of Radiology, UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Christine HodgdonGuiding Researchers and Advocates to Scientific Partnerships (GRASP Cancer), Baltimore, MD, USA.
Stephanie WalkerMetastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, New York City, Ny, USA; Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA.
Adrian V LeeUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Steffi OesterreichUPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Giuseppe FlorisDepartment of Pathology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Christine DesmedtLaboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Christine.desmedt@kuleuven.be.

Funding

VECTOR CORE FACILITYP30CA047904 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI CHRISTOPHER J. BAKKENIST · 1988 to 2026
$158.0M
Belgian Cancer Foundation 2020-103Conquer Cancer Foundation YIA-ILC2022European Research Council 101003153Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance YIA-ILC2022NCI NIH HHS P30 CA047904
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While primary invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is well characterized, metastatic ILC remains understudied. Within the post-mortem tissue donation programs, UPTIDER (Belgium) and Hope for Others (USA), we first aimed to explore intra-patient heterogeneity of key prognostic and predictive markers (stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTIL), estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and KI67). Secondly, we compared detection of the metastases by pathology on autopsy samples versus pre-mortem imaging. In total, 306 metastases from 12 patients were collected at autopsy (median: 27 per patient). Both primary tumors (n = 15) and metastases (n = 232) had low sTIL levels, with a median of 2% (range: 0.67-6.67%) and 0.67% (range: 0-13.33%), respectively. Regression models showed lower ER- and PR-expression in metastases (respectively, n = 265 and n = 64) compared to primary tumors (both p < 0.01). KI67 was significantly higher in metastases (n = 262, p = 0.02). HER2-low metastases were found in all but one patient although in varying proportion of metastases (range: 7.5-100%). Central radiology and pathology review had a median concordance of 78% at organ level (range: 33.33-100%) and 71% at patient level (range: 55.88-85.29%). Our findings suggest that a single metastatic biopsy has great limitations to guide treatment and that more adequate methods are needed to detect and monitor ILC metastases.

Identifiers

PMID41720822
PMCPMC13036049

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.