Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting women worldwide, but many people do not realize that it is not just one single disease. There are several different types of breast cancer, and each behaves in its own way.
Some types form solid lumps that doctors can easily see on scans or feel during an exam. Others grow in a much more hidden way. One of the most difficult forms to detect is called invasive lobular carcinoma, often shortened to ILC.
Invasive lobular carcinoma accounts for about 10 to 15 percent of all breast cancer cases. Instead of forming a clear tumor, the cancer cells spread through the breast tissue in thin lines, almost like threads.
Because the cells do not stick tightly together, they can move quietly through the tissue without creating a noticeable mass. This makes the disease harder to find early using common screening methods such as mammograms. Many patients are diagnosed later, when the cancer has already spread.
For many years, doctors have treated ILC patients using the same therapies designed for other types of breast cancer. However, these treatments do not always work as well, because lobular cancer behaves differently at the biological level.
One major problem has been the lack of good laboratory models that truly copy how this cancer grows in the human body. Without accurate models, it has been difficult for scientists to test new treatments designed specifically for this disease.
Now, researchers at EPFL in Switzerland, working with international partners, have taken an important step forward. Led by Professor Cathrin Brisken, the team created new preclinical models that better represent how invasive lobular carcinoma develops in patients.
They used a special method in which human cancer cells are grown inside the milk ducts of mice. This technique, known as intraductal xenografting, allows the cancer to grow in a way that closely matches real human disease, including how it responds to hormones and how it spreads to other organs.
With these improved models, the scientists were able to test a promising drug called PXS-5505. This drug had already been studied for another illness and was found to be safe in early tests, which makes it easier to move forward toward trials in cancer patients.
The drug targets enzymes that help build and maintain connective tissue in the body. In lobular cancer, these enzymes play a key role in shaping the surrounding tissue and helping cancer cells survive and spread.
The researchers discovered that the drug slows tumor growth by changing the structure of collagen, a protein that forms the framework of body tissues. Lobular cancer cells depend heavily on this collagen-rich environment.
By altering it, the drug weakens the support system that the cancer needs. In several experimental models, tumors grew more slowly, and fewer cancer cells spread to the lungs. The treated tumors also lost important signals from their surroundings that normally encourage growth.
This finding suggests that invasive lobular carcinoma has a hidden weakness: its reliance on the tissue around it. By targeting that weakness, the new drug may offer a treatment designed specifically for this type of cancer rather than using general breast cancer therapies.
The team also identified changes in tissue structure and gene activity that doctors could measure to see whether the drug is working. These markers could be used in short studies before surgery to evaluate the treatment quickly. Such information could speed up the development of new therapies and help doctors choose the best treatment for each patient.
Although more research is needed and human trials are still to come, this work offers new hope for patients with invasive lobular carcinoma.
It opens the possibility of the first treatment designed especially for this hard‑to‑detect cancer. Scientists believe that with better models and targeted drugs, future therapies could slow the disease, prevent it from spreading, and ultimately save lives.
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The study published in Cancer Research.
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