Longitudinal Tumor Burden Quantification Using Circulating Tumor DNA in Metastatic Lobular Breast Cancer

The goal of this study is to characterize early dynamic changes in ctDNA, which can aid in tailoring early therapy in patients with metastatic Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Response assessment using ctDNA analysis could not only aid in de-escalation but also escalation strategies.

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the most common special histologic subtype of breast cancer (BC), comprising 10-15% of all invasive BCs and representing approximately 26,000-40,000 new cases annually in the United States. ILC has distinct morphological and biological features as well as clinical behavior compared to Invasive Ductal Carcinoma/breast carcinoma of no special type (NST). Given that most lobular breast cancers are ER+, in current clinical practice, newly diagnosed metastatic ILC (mILC) - either recurrent or de novo metastatic disease - is generally treated with sequential endocrine therapies (ET) until the tumor becomes endocrine resistant. ILC often presents as non-measurable disease on imaging, and it is often difficult to determine treatment response accurately using conventional imaging techniques. Therefore, novel ways of monitoring disease response are urgently needed. Analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) offers an alternative, minimally invasive approach for monitoring treatment response, and can also identify molecular alterations that may predict resistance to endocrine therapies. Understanding early ctDNA dynamics during endocrine therapy is essential for future prospective clinical trials with adaptive molecularly driven designs. LBC-Monitor aims to define the optimal early timepoint of molecular response by ctDNA and the dynamics of these early changes as patients with mILC begin first line therapy with an antiestrogen agent such as an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant.