Even More Complicated
Posted 4/19/2012
Posted in
This is a summary from Medscape about a recent article, called "groundbreaking", in "Nature" that suggests that breast cancer is at least ten different diseases. For some time, we have all known that there are a number of different breast cancers, including those that are ER positive, her2 positive or negative, triple negative, etc. This expands that list and makes it clear that the focus on development of specific therapies that target specific receptors is indeed the right direction. As is often the case with research, it likely will be some time before this knowledge translates into new and better therapies, but the bench to bedside development will continue and help us all.
Here is the beginning and then a link:
New Map of Breast Cancer Identifies 10 Disease Subtypes
A "new map" of breast cancer, which identifies 10 distinct disease subtypes based on gene activity, will revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, say researchers.
The findings, published online April 18 in Nature, come from the largest global gene study of breast cancer tissue ever performed.
"This research is 'ground-breaking' indeed," said world-renowned breast cancer expert Martine Piccart, MD, PhD, from the Jules Bordet Institut in Brussels, Belgium. "The current classification of breast cancer is overly simplistic and results in suboptimal treatment selections for our patients," she told Medscape Medical News.
"I am not at all surprised that breast cancer is not 4 diseases but at least 10...and I do believe that this discovery will lead to the better management of patients...although this will probably take another 10 years," Dr. Piccart said.
Researchers in the United Kingdom and Canada analyzed nearly 2000 tumor samples taken from women diagnosed with breast cancer 5 to 10 years ago. They integrated tumor-sample copy numbers and gene expression with data on long-term clinical outcomes. They concluded that the samples could be divided into at least 10 distinct subtypes on the
basis of common genetic features that correlate with survival.
Read more...
Please note: Commenting is currently turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Tags: