McGill University researchers have found the genetic profiles of breast cancer. The team led by Morag Park, analyzed tissue from 53 breast cancer patients and pointed out 26 genes that could be used to predict how patients will respond to different treatments.

At present the breast cancer patients can be divided into three sub groups only: those who are estrogen-receptor-positive, those who test positive for the Her-2/neu gene and those who aren’t in either of those categories. Those whose cancer is fuelled by estrogen are usually treated with the drug Tamoxifen, while the Her-2/neu-positive patients are given Herceptin. But the study shows that breast cancer can be of nine types.

The findings, published this week in Nature Medicine, indicate that women who respond well to treatment possess stromal cells with a strong immune response - a sign that the body is fighting the cancer.

Conceivably, a drug company could develop a treatment that stimulates the immune response in the healthy stromal cells around the tumor. Traditionally, drug treatments have hit on the tumor itself.

Source: THE GAZETTE