Signaling pathways in inflammatory breast cancer

The biology of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) has some important differences from the biology of other types of breast cancer. Gene expression profiling, real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization have been used to detect unique characteristics that are found in the majority of IBC tumors but not in non-IBC tumors. Recent research has revealed some differences between IBC and non-IBC, including overexpression of RhoC GTPase and loss of expression of WISP3 in IBC. In this chapter, we ­summarize the current understanding of the biological signaling pathways of IBC, mainly cell proliferation pathways. At present, therapies that target cell proliferation pathways are the most promising targeted therapies for IBC. Identification of molecular findings unique to IBC will provide a rationale for developing novel treatment strategies targeting IBC.