On the way to specifically targeting minimal residual disease?
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Correspondence: Gerhard Gebauer gerhard.gebauer@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Heidelberg, Vossstraße 9, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Breast Cancer Research 2008, 10:112 doi:10.1186/bcr2148
Published: 7 October 2008Abstract
The target of all adjuvant systemic therapies after surgery in breast cancer is the eradication of a minimal subclinical residual disease. Although it is well known that tumor cell dissemination takes place already at an early stage of the disease, little is known about the tumorbiological parameters of these residual cells. Selection of patients eligible for adjuvant endocrine therapies is based on the analysis of receptor expression in the primary tumor – although the analysis is directed against disseminated tumor cells, these cells may vary in receptor expression in comparison with the primary tumor.