'Omic approaches to preventing or managing metastatic breast cancer
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* Corresponding author: Joe W Gray jwgray@lbl.gov
1 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Life Sciences Division, Cancer and DNA Damage Responses, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
2 Oregon Health and Science University, Biomedical Engineering Department, 3303 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR 97239, USA
Breast Cancer Research 2011, 13:230 doi:10.1186/bcr2923
Published: 8 December 2011Abstract
Early detection of metastasis-prone breast cancers and characterization of residual metastatic cancers are important in efforts to improve management of breast cancer. Applications of genome-scale molecular analysis technologies are making these complementary approaches possible by revealing molecular features uniquely associated with metastatic disease. Assays that reveal these molecular features will facilitate development of anatomic, histological and blood-based strategies that may enable detection prior to metastatic spread. Knowledge of these features also will guide development of therapeutic strategies that can be applied when metastatic disease burden is low, thereby increasing the probability of a curative response.