The intraductal approach to the breast: raison d'être
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* Corresponding author: Susan M Love slove@earthlink.net
1 Department of Biological Sciences, Quinnipiac University, Mt Carmel Ave, Hamden, CT 06518-1908, USA
2 Dr Susan Love Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Via de la Paz, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, USA
Breast Cancer Research 2006, 8:206 doi:10.1186/bcr1410
Published: 21 April 2006Abstract
Opportunities for the detection, prediction, and treatment of breast cancer exist at three biological levels: systemically via the blood, at the whole organ level, and within the individual ductal lobular structures of the breast. This review covers the evaluation of approaches targeted to the ductal lobular units, where breast cancer begins. Studies to date suggest the presence of 5 to 12 independent ductal lobular systems per breast, each harboring complex cellular fluids contributed by local and systemic processes. New techniques for accessing and interrogating these systems offer the potential to gauge the microenvironment of the breast and distill biological risk profiles.