New Genomic Test Can Personalize Breast Cancer Treatment

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Research Grant Helps Fund Discovery   

DALLAS – February 11, 2009 – A 2007 research grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure® already has helped scientists identify a set of 50 genes that oncologists can potentially use to tailor individualized treatments for all breast cancer patients, Washington University School of Medicine reported this week.

Genes identify the four known types of breast cancer for better treatments
The set of genes can now be used to reliably identify the four known types of breast cancer, which can help doctors identify the most effective treatments for the kind of breast cancer that a patient has, according to Matthew Ellis, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine and a member of the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University.

“Unlike a widely used genomic test that applies only to lymph-node negative, estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer, this new genomic test is broadly applicable for all women diagnosed with breast cancer,” Ellis said.

A two-year, $300,000 Komen for the Cure research grant awarded to Ellis in August 2007 helped fund this discovery.

This discovery was reported February 9 through an advance online publication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Ellis’ collaborators include co-authors Charles Perou, Ph.D., associate professor of genetics and pathology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Philip S. Bernard, M.D., assistant professor of pathology and medical director of the molecular pathology laboratory at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute and Torsten Nielsen, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Ellis and his colleagues analyzed the gene activity of more than 1,000 breast cancer tumors to identify and validate the genetic signature of each of the four types of breast cancer. Although the cancer types are distinguished by thousands of genetic differences, the researchers were able to narrow the list down to a group of 50 of these genes that could uniquely indentify each type.

Important step forward for all breast cancer patients
“This type of research and its impressive results are important for two reasons,” said Diana Rowden, Komen for the Cure’s vice president of Health Sciences. “First, it potentially is an important step forward for all breast cancer patients. It could help doctors avoid treating them with drugs that might not be effective for their particular disease. And secondly, a discovery in the lab that has potentially fast clinical applications for patients is exactly what Komen plans to accomplish when it funds many of its research projects around the world.”

Last year alone, Komen granted $100 million for research. It was the largest commitment of breast cancer research funding by a single nonprofit organization, targeting 81 universities and hospitals in 27 states and five countries. These grants represent research with the highest likelihood of producing results for patients during the next decade.
 
More than 20 drugs are now available to treat breast cancer. Ellis said his team is now investigating how each tumor type responds to these drugs to help determine the best treatment for each. The investigators now plan to study tumor samples from breast cancer cases dating back a decade or longer. Since patients in these cases already have been treated, the researchers are optimistic they can discover relatively quickly how well various therapies worked for each breast cancer type.