Loss of cadherin-based cell adhesion and the progression of Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer

Abstract

Lobular breast cancer is a type of breast cancer that is histologically characterized by a noncohesive growth pattern of small regular cells, where single cells infiltrate as one-layered strands of cells. This noncohesive growth pattern is due to inactivation of the E-cadherin complex and a subsequent lack of cell-cell adhesion. Currently there is no specific treatment for lobular breast cancer, and metastatic disease cannot be cured.

By aiming to gain knowledge about the key signaling pathways to enable future development of targeted new therapies that can successfully treat lobular breast cancer, we have learned about the role of the E-cadherin complex member α-catenin and the yes-associated protein (YAP) in breast cancer progression. Overall this thesis describes different aspects of lobular breast cancer, like pathology, etiology, subtypes, markers and signaling pathways involved in tumor progression.