Two Genes Might Help Predict Breast Cancer Survival

Genes - American Health Council

The activity of two genes may help predict certain breast cancer patients’ chances of survival and guide their treatment, British researchers report.”

“We have seen major strides in the treatment of breast cancer, but once it begins to spread round the body it is still often fatal,” said Paul Workman. He is chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, which conducted the research.This new study helps us understand some of the processes that control how breast cancers spread, and identifies a pattern of genetic activity that could be used to pick out women particularly at risk,” Workman said in an institute news release.”

“In the study, a team led by ICR researcher Paul Huang looked at tumors from nearly 2,000 breast cancer patients. They focused on HER-2 positive breast cancers, which account for about 20 percent of breast cancers.Huang’s team found that patients whose tumors had high activity in a gene called F12, but low activity in a gene called STC2, were three times more likely to die within 10 years, compared to patients with different patterns of activity in these two genes.”

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