Bridging the Gap – an Update of Translational Research in Breast Cancer

摘要

High-throughput gene expression and mutation analysis have provided increasing insight into the complex molecular biology of breast cancer. For many decades, detailed knowledge of the basic molecular biology of breast cancer did not have significant impact on routine clinical management of the disease. However, with increasing insights into both breast cancer molecular heterogeneity and targetable signal transduction pathways, scientists as well as clinicians have to understand the increasing complexity of the disease to be able to offer an individualized treatment strategy to patients with breast cancer. Molecular biology becomes relevant for treatment selection, understanding efficacy, side effects, and resistance as well as for generating new hypotheses for combinations of therapeutic agents.