Sorting Out Breast-Cancer Gene Signatures

Abstract

The advent of technology for the analysis of human tissue samples for the activity of the entire genome initiated a quest for the molecular profiling of tumors. The aim of this quest was a better system for classifying cancers, a clarification of the origin of these diseases, a more accurate prognostic capacity than was previously available, and an improved ability to choose among possible therapies. Progress in the molecular profiling of solid tumors began with the identification of sets of genes whose expression can be used to classify breast cancers into five so-called intrinsic subtypes.¹ Soon thereafter, two independent comparisons . . .