Genomic Profiles May Improve Breast Cancer Treatment
Currently, when doctors choose a type of chemotherapy for a patient, they rely on information from previous studies of large groups of patients. These studies predict population-based chemotherapy response rates that show which percentage of patients respond to a specific type of chemotherapy. This means we know how likely it is that a group of patients with a particular type of tumor will respond to the chemotherapy, but not how likely it is that each individual tumor will respond to a chemotherapy.
Personalized medicine is based on information about each individual patient, not the information about an entire group. Using the genomic profile of a tumor as a guide to select the best treatment will move us closer to "personalized medicine." Think of the genomic profile of a breast cancer tumor as another tool in the doctor's kit.
Our research focuses on identifying genomic profiles of tumors that differ in their responses to chemotherapy. Different genes may be turned on or off, changing a tumor's behavior. We can use these differences in genomic profiles to learn which tumors are more sensitive to specific chemotherapy agents (changed behavior). Once we know more about which tumors are sensitive to which drug, this information can be used to help doctors pick the best chemotherapy for each patient. In the future, genomic profiles may help us understand more about how tumors become resistant to chemotherapy and can help us to design new treatments.