Functional Estrogen Receptor Imaging Before Neoadjuvant Therapy for Primary Breast Cancer

Estrogen receptor α (ERα) is a critical prognostic and predictive biomarker in breast cancer. ERα expression is used to determine whether patients should be treated with endocrine therapy, which is designed to block ERα signaling. Endocrine therapy given for 5-10 y after surgery improves progression-free and overall survival for patients with ER-positive primary breast cancer. However, disease recurrence and development of metastatic disease can occur despite appropriate treatment with endocrine therapy. Thus, a functional test performed at the time of initial diagnosis that can identify which patients would do well with endocrine therapy alone versus those who require adjuvant chemotherapy would be impactful for improving patient outcomes.