Obesity and menopausal status impact the features and molecular phenotype of invasive lobular breast cancer

Purpose We investigated the relationship between obesity, menopausal status, and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), the second most common histological subtype of breast cancer. Specifically, we evaluated the association between body mass index (BMI), metabolic syndrome, the 21-gene Oncotype Recurrence Score (Oncotype RS), and pathological features in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2-negative ILC. Methods The study cohort included 491 patients from a prospectively maintained institutional database consisting of patients with stage I-III, HR-positive ILC who underwent surgical treatment between 1996 and 2019. Results Contrary to our expectations, we found that lower BMI was significantly associated with having higher Oncotype RS (18.9% versus 4.8%, p = 0.028) in post-menopausal patients, but was not related to tumor characteristics in pre-menopausal patients. Multivariate network analyses suggested a strong relationship between post-menopausal status itself and tumor characteristics, with lesser influence of BMI. Conclusion These findings provide further insight into the recently appreciated heterogeneity within ILC and support the need for further investigation into the drivers of this disease and tailored treatment strategies.