Jason Mouabbi Highlights ILC Research at ASCO 2025 and Calls for Structural Support Initiatives

Jason Mouabbi, Chair of Scientific Advisory Board of the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance and Assistant Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, shared a post on X:

“ASCO 2025 is around the corner, and it’s inspiring to see the growing momentum for ILC research at major meetings.

Just a few years ago, ILC had little to no visibility ASCO, this year, 7 ILC abstracts will be presented. Here is a brief overview of each:

1. Macroscale Genomic Alterations in Histomolecular ILC (Poster 1049; Jason A. Mouabbi, MD (MD Anderson))

Key Findings: Whole-exome sequencing of 617 samples showed unique CNV patterns and enriched APOBEC activity in histomolecular ILC. These tumors had lower HRD but higher TMB compared to NST, suggesting therapeutic vulnerabilities

2. Neoadjuvant Endocrine Therapy (NAET) vs. Chemotherapy (NAC) in Stage II–III ILC (Poster 603; Jason A. Mouabbi (MD Anderson))

Key Findings: In this large retrospective study, NAET have shown great promise as a appropriate alternative to NAC in ILC

3. Serial ctDNA Monitoring in Early-Stage HR+/HER2− ILC (Poster 581; Julia Foldi, MD (UPMC))

Key Findings: In a cohort of 430 patients, longitudinal ctDNA positivity correlated strongly with distant recurrence, with a 31-fold increased risk when ctDNA was positive within 2 years of surgery. PIK3CA was the most frequent co-mutation with CDH1.

4. ALTTO Trial Subgroup Analysis: HER2+ ILC (Poster 542; Guilherme Nader Marta, MD (Dana-Farber))

Key Findings: Among 61 HER2+ ILC patients from the ALTTO trial, long-term survival outcomes were comparable to NST, but CNS relapse was significantly higher in ILC (13.6% vs. 5.0%), highlighting unique metastatic behavior.

5. Patient Experiences in ILC Diagnosis and Treatment (Poster 11111; Astrid Quirarte (UCSF))

Key Findings: Qualitative analysis from a prospective registry revealed diagnostic delays due to mammographically occult disease, misclassification, and underestimation of tumor size, underscoring the need for ILC-specific clinical approaches

6. Impact of Surgery Type on Mortality in Unilateral ILC (Poster 585; Richa Jaiswal, MD (Women’s College Hospital))

Key Findings: SEER-based analysis of 58,861 patients found that bilateral mastectomy reduced contralateral breast cancer risk and was associated with a modest but significant reduction in breast cancer mortality compared to lumpectomy

7. Treatment Patterns and Genomic Landscape of Metastatic ILC (Poster 1119; Sherry Shen, MD (MSKCC))

Key Findings: In a large single-institution cohort (n=654), OS differed significantly by PIK3CA, PTEN, and CDH1 mutation status, emphasizing the prognostic relevance of NGS in metastatic ILC

Siobhán Freeney, Founder of Lobular Ireland, shared this post, adding:

“As an ILC Patient and European Patient Advocate it’s fantastic to see ILC research at major Conferences/Symposia. Are there protected slots for ILC submitted abstracts at these major meetings? Thanks for all you’re doing to keep a focus on ILC.”

Jason Mouabbi responded to Siobhán:

“Unfortunately, there is a major need to encourage and protect ILC research to allow it to flourish! Here are some steps that can help accelerate ILC research:

1. Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance and ELBCC should use their social media outreach to remind people of the deadline to submit abstracts to those meetings
2. ⁠We should open a mentorship program through the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance, ELBCC, ASCO, SABCS and others to mentor junior faculty, oncology fellows and medical students on ILC and help them with projects
3. Have a fund to support travel for oncology fellows and medical students if they submit an ILC project and get accepted
4. Negotiate with SABCS, ASCO and ESMO and others protected slots for ILC submitted abstracts
5. Create an annual ‘Emerging ILC Investigator’ award with some sort of compensation to reward ILC researchers
6. Establish a virtual ILC journal club where we discuss ILC publications, Abstracts presented at conferences and more and have them recorded and archived on YouTube.”

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