Study shines new light on genetic alterations of aggressive breast cancer subtype
The study, led by Dr. Xiaosong Wang, assistant professor of medicine — hematology and oncology and of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor, published today in Nature Communications and focused on the more aggressive molecular subtype of the estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer known as luminal B breast cancer. “While expressing the estrogen receptor, the luminal B breast cancers usually have higher tumor grade, larger tumor size, and poor prognosis, with most cases difficult to treat by endocrine therapy,” said Wang, the lead and corresponding author on the report. “We wanted to gain a deeper understanding about the genetic alterations underlying this particular form of breast cancer, because we do not know about what malfunctions potentially cause this form to be more aggressive.” In the study, Wang and colleagues identified a particular gene fusion on the estrogen receptor itself (hybrid gene formed from two previously separate genes) that was preferentially present in a subset of samples of tumors that were luminal B and ER-positive. …