The breast cancer landscape

摘要

The information-generating power of genome-analysis technologies is increasing at a rate that surpasses even the doubling in computer performance that is achieved every 18 months by the semiconductor industry~1. Genome-analysis methods are now sufficiently powerful, fast and reliable that they are underpinning efforts to elucidate the molecular architecture of human cancers~(2,3) and, in some cases, can be used in routine clinical practice~4. Five papers~(5,9) published in this issue present whole-genome analyses of a range of different breast cancers, providing a comprehensive picture of breast cancer's genetic diversity and suggesting refined tumour-classification strategies and new lines of therapeutic attack.