Abstract RF3-01: Clinical outcomes of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) versus non-lobular breast cancer (NLC) assessed by expert pathologists, an artificial intelligence (AI) CDH1 classifier, and AI-derived tumor microenvironment (TME) biomarkers in
Abstract Background: Approximately15% of invasive breast cancers are Invasive Lobular Cancer (ILC) with differingclinical outcomes than non-lobular breast cancer (NLC). Digital pathologyenables high-throughput biomarkers and morphology analysis. The TME,particularly TILs is a robust prognostic factor in localized breast cancer.Here, we detail the prognostic importance of ductal vs lobular histology,manually and with AI, combined with manual and novel AI-derived TME metrics inearly (<5y) and late (>5y) recurrence with 15-years of follow-up inTAILORx. Methods: H&E whole slideimages (WSI) from 8,422 patients were reviewed by 16 breast pathologists who completedcentral review for grade, TILs (www.tilsinbreastcancer.org) and histology (WHOclassification). The same H&E dataset was evaluated with an AI-based CDH1-classifier(Paige.AI). In addition, a zero-shot AI model (Case45) generated a panel of TMEbiomarkers (TIL abundance, spatial TIL levels with proximity to cancer cellsand degree of cancer cell-fibroblast contact) combined into a single TME-riskscore. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using multivariable Cox models adjustedfor age, tumor size, Oncotype DX 21-gene recurrence score (RS; Exact Sciences),adjuvant therapy (endocrine vs chemo-endocrine), and centrally determined grade,histology (ILC vs NLC), and manual TILs. Similar analysis were performed usingthe CDH1-classifier rather than central histology, and TME risk score. Results: Centralpathology review revealed ILC in 11.9% of cases, and NLC in 88.1% (77.7% ductal,10.4% non-ductal). Concordances ratesbetween the pathologists were 0.837 and 0.494 (Fleiss’ Kappa) for histology andgrade, respectively, with ICC of 0.968 for TILs. Both centralized pathologyreview (11.9%) and the CDH1-AI classifier (11.2%) demonstrated that ILC has consistentlyhigher risk of recurrence than NLC between years 5-15, but not before; there was a 4.9% overall survival (OS)-difference between ILC vs NLC at 15years. For manual TILs, estimated hazard ratio (HR) for a 10-point differencein TILs was 1.06 (95% CI 1.00, 1.13 p=0.04) for distance recurrence freeinterval (DRFI). AI-derived TME-risk stratified DRFI from 95.7% to 90.9% at 10years, and from 92.1% to 86.9% at 15 years (HR per standard deviation (SD)1.27, 95% CI 1.15-1.40, p<0.0001). This association remained significantafter adjustment for clinicopathologic factors including 21-gene RS (HR per SD1.14, 95% CI 1.04-1.25, p=0.005). Conclusion: ILC(identified by manual review or CDH1-AI classifier) is associated with higherlate recurrence risk and death than NLC at 15 years after diagnosis in TAILORx, the majority of whom received a 5-yearcourse of adjuvant endocrine therapy. Furthermore, both manual TILs andAI-derived TME analysis provide independent risk stratification in addition to 21-geneRS in HR+/HER2− node-negative breast cancer. These findings haveimplications for considering up to a 10-year course of adjuvant ET in womenwith ER+, HER2−, node-negative ILC, even when there is a low 21-gene RS. Citation Format: R. Salgado, R. Gray, G. Broeckx, C. Desmedt, A. Li, G. Van den Eynden, Z. Kos, B. Acs, T. Tramm, E. Stovgaard, C. Focke, L. Comerma Blesa, A. Hida, M. Lacroix-Triki, E. Provenzano, F. Pareja, S. Maley, N. Villena, H. Montgomery, E. Li-Ning-Tapia, A. Lazar, S. Badve, S. Loi, J. Sparano, The International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group, TAILORx Investigators. Clinical outcomes of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) versus non-lobular breast cancer (NLC) assessed by expert pathologists, an artificial intelligence (AI) CDH1 classifier, and AI-derived tumor microenvironment (TME) biomarkers in TAILORx [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2025; 2025 Dec 9-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2026;32(4 Suppl):Abstract nr RF3-01.
Authors
- Fresia Pareja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3748-8049)
- Zuzana Kos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0880-3388)
- Akira I. Hida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4486-8819)
- Balazs Acs
- L. Comerma Blesa
- S. S. Badve
- J. Sparano
- R. J. Gray
- S. Loi
- A. Li
- R. Salgado
- TAILORx Investigators
- S. Maley
- C. Focke
- E. Provenzano
- N. Villena
- A. Lazar
- T. Tramm
- G. Broeckx
- M. Lacroix-Triki
- The International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group
- H. Montgomery
- E. Li-Ning-Tapia
- E. Stovgaard
- C. Desmedt
- G. Van den Eynden
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Pace University (US)
- BC Cancer Agency (CA)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- Montefiore Medical Center (US)
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Emory University (US)
- Breast Cancer Research Foundation (US)
- Aalborg University Hospital (DK)
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (AU)
- Institut Gustave Roussy (FR)
- Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Matsuyama University (JP)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Matsuyama Shimin Hospital (JP)
- VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology (BE)
- Antwerp University Hospital (BE)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
- Parc de Salut (ES)
- Saiseikai Matsuyama Hospital (JP)
- Montefiore Hospital (GB)
- Mariaziekenhuis (BE)
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer Klinikum (DE)
- Addenbrooke's Hospital (GB)
- NRG Oncology (US)
- NSABP Foundation (US)
- IT University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Aalborg University (DK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Clinical Cancer Research
- Published
- 2026-02-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1158/1557-3265.sabcs25-rf3-01
- Primary Topic
- Breast Cancer Treatment Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00