Breast cancer develops from breast tissue, manifesting as a lump in the breast or dimpling in the skin. Breast cancer most commonly develops in cells from the lining of milk ducts and the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. It is a major form of cancer for women, with the risk rising as the woman ages. In many cases, the causative reason is genetic.
New research has found that certain combinations of genes in tumors could mean it is more likely that the cancer will return. Understanding this means a tighter level of check-ups or different forms of treatment could be given to certain women following initial treatment of the disease. Current rates for breast cancer relapse are around one in five, with the disease often returning to the same body site.
According to The Daily Mirror, the gene combination was found from an analysis of tumors examined from 1,000 breast cancer patients. This included 161 people whose cancer had recurred or spread.
While the results are promising, more work is needed. Lead researcher Dr Lucy Yates told BBC Science: “Further work is needed to validate these findings in much larger datasets, but we hope that in the future it will be possible at the point of diagnosis to look at the cancer genes in an individual’s cancer and determine whether it is likely to return in the future and, if so, to select a personalised therapy to prevent that event.”
The research was undertaken by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. The research has yet to be published, however it has recently been presented to the European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria.
