09/25/2012

In a new study of 825 women published in the prestigious journal Nature, members of The Cancer Genome Atlas Network identified four major biological subtypes of breast cancer:  luminal A, luminal B, HER2 “enriched,” and basal-like.

Basal-like tumors were found to be more like an aggressive form of ovarian cancer, high grade serous ovarian cancer, than other breast cancers.  These findings suggest they two have similar genetic origins and could potentially be treated with the same drugs.

Findings from The Cancer Genome Atlas research on ovarian cancer, which were published last year, suggest not all ovarian cancers are alike.   The findings of this study, which is the largest comprehensive analysis of breast cancer to date, add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that tumors should be catalogued and treated based on molecular structure rather than their location in the body.

For more about TCGA and ovarian cancer, watch an archived version of the webinar given on the topic by Dr. Ilana Cass earlier this year.

More at the New York Times and the National Cancer Institute.