2026 ILC Symposium Speakers
Accepted Oral Presenters
Accepted abstracts for Oral Podium and Quickshot presentations at the 2026 International Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Symposium.
All accepted abstracts from oral and poster presentations will be published in the journal of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
| Presentation | First Name | Last Name | Institution or Affiliation | Abstract Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podium | Christopher | Merkel | University of Pittsburgh | AP-2β Defines a Mammary Epithelial Subpopulation With a Potential Role in Lobular Carcinoma Initiation |
| Podium | Anna | Vertido | University of California, San Francisco | Incidence of bilateral breast cancer in patients with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: an institutional cohort study of 998 patients |
| Podium | Jason | Mouabbi | UT MD Anderson | IvoLoC: A Phase II Trial of Ivonescimab (IVO) in Endocrine-Refractory Hormone Receptor (HR)–Positive or Triple-Negative (TN) metastatic Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (mILC) |
| Podium | Higinio | Dopeso | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | Context-dependent tumor suppressor role of RHOA in breast cancer through cooperation with CDH1 loss |
| Podium | Renee | Flaherty | City St George’s, University of London, The Institute of Cancer Research | Multimodal analysis of tumour evolution in ILC reveals dynamic changes in extracellular matrix |
| Podium | Elleke | Dresen | University Hospitals Leuven | The accuracy of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI in the staging of invasive lobular breast carcinoma: a retrospective study |
| Podium | Eduardo | Pena | King’s College London | The tumour microenvironment as source for prognostic biomarkers in invasive lobular breast cancer |
| Podium | Sumayya | Abdul Qadir | University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children | Modeling recurrent ILC as a platform for the development of novel therapeutics |
| Quickshot | Julia | Ye | University of California, San Francisco | Beyond E-cadherin: Histologic and immunohistochemical features of invasive lobular carcinomas with non-truncating CDH1 mutations |
| Quickshot | Brent | Schlegel | Women’s Cancer Research Center, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Magee-Women’s Research Institute, University of Pittsburgh | PDOmics: Patient-Derived Organoids as a Multi-Omic Window into ILC Heterogeneity and Clinical Behavior |
| Quickshot | Amy | McCart Reed | The University of Queensland | LobSig, a prognostic biomarker set for ILC: where are we and why has it taken so long? |
| Quickshot | Melanie | Salvador | University of Colorado Anschutz, Colorado School of Public Health | Relative rates of ILC incidence in Colorado reflect socioeconomic or structural factors that may drive disparities in ILC diagnoses |
| Quickshot | Camille | Carette | Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, KU Leuven | Phenotypic characterization of tumor cells across non-blood body fluids from patients with metastatic invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) and invasive breast cancer of no special type (IBC-NST) |
| Quickshot | Darcie | Seachrist | Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University | Focal Adhesion Dependencies in CDH1-deficient Lobular Breast Cancer |
| Quickshot | Chamil | Jinadasa | University of Wisconsin, Madison | Clinical Utility and Management Impact of 18F-FES PET/CT for Lobular Breast Cancer |
| Quickshot | Marni | McClure | Stanford University, National Cancer Institute | Spatial ecotypes within hormone-positive invasive lobular carcinoma uncover distinct immune microenvironment from invasive ductal carcinoma |
| Quickshot | Rachel | Brough | The Institute of Cancer Research | Introducing an ILC Dependency Atlas |
| Quickshot | Elisabeth | Abeles | University of California, San Francisco, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | Omission of axillary surgery in patients with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: rates of nodal involvement in clinically node negative patients and impact on recurrence in a single institution analysis |
| Quickshot | Richard | Barth | Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center | Utilization of a Supine MRI-based Guidance System, The Breast Cancer LocatorTM, to Decrease Positive Margin Rates after Lumpectomy: an International Randomized Prospective Trial |
Session and Debate Speakers
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Opening of 2026 International Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Symposium: Welcome
Professor of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, Program Director of the UCSF Lobular Breast Cancer Research Program
Debate 1: Tumor morphology alone should be used to diagnose ILC
Professor of Pathology and Immunology, University of Washington in St. Louis, Section Head of Breast Pathology
Associate Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Chief of Cancer Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Chief of Oncologic Pathology, Dana-Farber Institute
Scientific Session 1: Genetics, Risk, and Exposures
Associate Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Professor at the Institute of Cancer Research London
Associate Professor of General Surgery, European Institute of Oncology
Associate Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Chief Surgical Officer, Winship Cancer Institute
Clinical Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, San Francisco,
Chief Clinical Officer at Midi Health
Scientific Session 2: The ILC Cell and Microenvironment
Distinguished University Professor, George Mason University, Co-Director, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine
Research Director at Institute National De La Santé Et De La Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Scientific Coordinator, Institut Curie
Professor of Oncology, Georgetown University, Associate Director of Training and Education, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Assistant Professor, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Thursday, September 24, 2026
Scientific Session 3: Mechanisms of Metastasis
Professor, Cancer Genomics and Deputy Director, Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Research, London
Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Professor, Director of the Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco
Debate 2: Cytotoxic chemotherapy is ineffective in patients with metastatic ILC
Associate Professor of Medicine, Breast Medical Oncology Team Leader, Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego
Clinical Investigator, Breast Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Co-Director of MSK Lobular Breast Cancer Program
Scientific Session 4: Model Systems & Pathology
Professor of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh Foundation Chair, Director, Institute for Precision Medicine
Pathologist and Researcher, Institut Curie; Visiting Investigator, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Lester & Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine
Professor, Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Associate Director for Basic Research, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Keynote Address 1: Hereditary CDH1 Mutations: The identification and evolution of a cancer syndrome
Professor, University of Otago, Co-Founder, Pacific Edge Ltd.
Scientific Session 5: Diagnostics and Clinical Management
Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Chair, Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research at KU Leuven
Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center at Abramson Cancer Center
Scientific Session 6: Clinical Trial Results & Advocacy
Medical Oncologist, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Professor and Lead Senior Physician, Charité Breast Center, Berlin
Professor, Baylor College of Medicine, Executive Medical Director, Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Friday, September 25, 2026
Scientific Session 7: Endocrine Resistance & Novel Targets
Associate Professor, Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Bioinformatics Researcher, Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, KU Leuven University
Professor of Experimental & Preclinical Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht
Keynote Address 2: Novel approaches to screening and clinical trials for breast cancer: how to improve care for ILC
Director, Breast Care Center, University of California, San Francisco
Scientific Session 8: Advanced Imaging and Artificial Intelligence
Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Associate Medical Director of Quality for Breast Imaging, Mass General Brigham
Assistant Attending in Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Assistant Professor, KU Leuven, Co-Leader of Imaging Working Group, European Lobular Breast Cancer Consortium
Dynami Foundation Leigh Pate Memorial Lecture
Professor, Univ of Pittsburgh, Co-Director, Women’s Cancer Research Center, Co-Leader Cancer Biology Program, UPMC HCC and MWRI
Scientific Session 9: SNMMI Special Session – Imaging in ILC
James & Pamela Muzzy Endowed Chair of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Hoag Family Cancer Institute, Professor, University of Southern California
Athena Distinguished Professor, Breast Cancer Research, University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Radiologist, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Matthew J. Wilson Professor & Vice-Chair for Research, Radiology Department, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of
Pennsylvania
Scientific Session 10: Radiotherapy, Clinical Trials
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus
Assistant Professor of Oncology, KU Leuven, Head of the Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research
Head of Precision and Population Oncology, King’s College London, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Guy’s Cancer Centre
Debate 3: Patients with ILC should be treated with neoadjuvant therapy
Medical Director, Breast Medical Oncology, University of California, San Francisco,
Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee-Womens Hospital UPMC Hillman Cancer Center