Journal
CELL CYCLE
Volume 5, Issue 9, Pages 963-967Publisher
LANDES BIOSCIENCE
DOI: 10.4161/cc.5.9.2713
Keywords
breast cancer; BRCA1; basal phenotype; breast stem cells
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Many BRCA1-related tumors have a distinct histological characteristics which together have been called basal-like. Typically such tumors are ER-, HER2- and express cytokeratin 5/6, cytokeratin 8/18, EGFR and vimentin. These characteristics can be used to predict which breast cancers are most likely to be associated with germline BRCA1 mutations which has important implications for breast pathologists. Moreover, BRCA1-related breast cancers generally have a poorer prognosis which may paradoxically be more pronounced in node negative cancers. This may relate in part to a different pattern of metastatic spread with in increased frequency of brain and lung metastases in BRCA1 carriers. Conversely, BRCA1-related tumors may respond better to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and their characteristic molecular signature may provide opportunities to develop specific molecular targeted therapies akin to traztuzumab in HER2+ cancers. Finally, many of the phenotypic features of BRCA1-related tumors might also be found in putative breast stem cells and therefore characterization of the BRCA1 breast cancer phenotype will improve our understanding of sporadic breast carcinogenesis.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available