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New Treatment Strategies for the Inflammatory Breast Cancer

  • Breast Cancer (WJ Gradishar, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) remains the most aggressive type of breast cancer. During the past decade, enormous progress has been made to refine diagnostic criteria and establish multimodality treatment strategies as keys for the improvement of survival outcomes. Multiple genomic studies enabled a better understanding of underlying tumor biology, which is responsible for the complex and aggressive nature of IBC. Despite these important achievements, outcomes for this subgroup of patients remain unsatisfactory compared to locally advanced non-IBC counterparts. Global efforts are now focused on identifying novel strategies that will improve treatment response, prolong survival for metastatic patients, achieve superior local control, and possibly increase the cure rate for locally advanced disease. Genomic technologies constitute the most important tool that will support future clinical progress. Gene-expressing profiling of the tumor tissue and liquid biopsy are important parts of the everyday clinical practice aiming to guide treatment decisions by providing information on tumor molecular drivers or primary and acquired resistance to treatment. The International IBC expert panel and IBC International Consortium made a tremendous effort to define IBC as a distinct entity of BC, and they will continue to lead and support the research for this rare and very aggressive disease. Finally, a uniform platform is now required to develop and lead large, multi-arm, proof-of-concept clinical trials that perform rapid, focused, and cost-effective evaluations of potential novel therapeutics in IBC.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Prof. Sergio Crispino, Scientific Director ASSO and Scientific Director Anticancer Fund, for his insights and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Developmental Therapeutics, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 233 East Superior Street, Suite 01-023, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Elena Vagia MD & Massimo Cristofanilli MD

  2. Division of Hematology Oncology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Elena Vagia MD & Massimo Cristofanilli MD

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This study received funding from Associazione per lo Sviluppo della Scienza Oncologica (ASSO), Siena, Italy.

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Correspondence to Elena Vagia MD.

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Elena Vagia declares that she has no conflict of interest. Massimo Cristofanilli has received research funding from Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and G1 Therapeutics, and has received compensation for service as a consultant from CytoDyn, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Sermonix, G1 Therapeutics, and Foundation Medicine.

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Vagia, E., Cristofanilli, M. New Treatment Strategies for the Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 22, 50 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-021-00843-2

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