Register for There is remarkable genetic complexity and heterogeneity in human breast cancer
Brest CancerJune 10, 2003
2003 JUN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- There is remarkable genetic complexity and heterogeneity in human breast cancer.
"An important mechanism for the activation of proto-oncogenes in human breast and other cancers is gene amplification, which results in gene overexpression at both the message and the protein levels," scientists in the United States report.
"Recent studies have demonstrated that oncogenes rarely if ever become amplified in isolation, but rather are present on large amplicons that contain multiple genes. More detailed analysis of these amplicons has revealed the presence of many candidate breast cancer oncogenes," wrote S.P. Ethier and colleagues, University of Michigan Health Systems, Department of Radiation Oncology.
The researchers concluded: "The broad goal of this issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment is to review the current state of our understanding of the causal role of defined genetic alterations that occur in human breast cancers, and to discuss the case for the mechanistic significance of several candidate oncogenes.
"As will be seen, these studies have revealed a remarkable genetic complexity and heterogeneity in human breast cancer that must be dissected in order to improve our mechanistic understanding of disease progression, and to develop effective new drugs against relevant molecular targets," the researchers added.
Ethier and colleagues published their study in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (Identifying and validating causal genetic alterations in human breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2003;78(3):285-287).
For more information, contact S.P. Ethier, University of Michigan Health Systems, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation & Cancer Biology, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Publisher contact information for the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment is: Kluwer Academic Publishing, Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands.
The information in this article comes under the major subject area of Oncology. This article was prepared by Cancer Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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