Molecular, biochemical, and cellular biology of human breast cancer

The meeting at Tamarron illustrated the multiplicity of molecular changes found in breast cancer and concluded with the disquieting sense that, so far, there is no simple unifying molecular model to explain the etiology of the disease. Perhaps the complex nature of breast cancer precludes formulation of a simple model. The biologic heterogeneity of breast cancers may reflect the fact that, at the molecular level, there is more than one way to accomplish each of the phenotypic changes necessary for malignant growth. At this point in time, it is difficult to evaluate which molecular changes will be important to understanding and subsequently interfering with the disease process. Additional studies correlating molecular and biochemical changes in human breast tumors with clinical disease characteristics and patient outcome should help to clarify these issues.