From rxpgnews.com

Breast
Breast cancer's genetic signature predicts likelihood and location of spread
By Pankaj, US Correspondent
Jan 4, 2005, 19:36

Cancer metastasis � the transfer of disease from one organ to another not directly connected to it � is responsible for the majority of cancer-related deaths. It is believed that metastases arise from rare cells in the original tumor that acquire the ability to grow at a distant site. Previous studies using microarray technology � which allows researchers to determine the expression levels of genes within cells and is often described as a gene expression "signature" � have revealed that expression of a set of 70 genes in the primary tumors of breast cancer patients, called the "poor prognosis" signature, is highly predictive of the development of breast cancer spread and patient survival.

Using this technology, Joan Massag� and colleagues from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, examined the potential of individual breast cancer cells to spread to distinct and different organs. The authors found that breast cancer cells did indeed carry the poor-prognosis signature and this signature differed little between cells. However breast cancer cells had varying abilities to spread to bone, lung, and the adrenal gland. Most interestingly, the authors found that the genes that make up the poor-prognosis signature were different to those that comprised the metastatic signature, indicating that the genes that make up the poor-prognosis signature do not control the ability of the tumor to spread to specific organs. Furthermore, they identified a bone metastasis gene expression signature that was able to distinguish between primary breast carcinomas that preferentially spread to bone from those that spread elsewhere. Use of this gene expression signature may in the future allow accurate prediction of the spread of breast cancer primary tumors to bone and subsequently help guide the treatment of breast cancers.



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