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Updated: May 10, 2026

Building Up a High-throughput Screening Platform to Assess the Heterogeneity of HER2 Gene Amplification in Breast Cancers
Published on: December 5, 2017
Genetic heterogeneity in breast cancer: the road to personalized medicine?
Richard D Baird1, Carlos Caldas
1Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Box 97, Cambridge CB4 3EJ, UK. richard.baird@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Abstract:
More women die from breast cancer across the world today than from any other type of malignancy. The clinical course of breast cancer varies tremendously between patients. While some of this variability is explained by traditional clinico-pathological factors (including patient age, tumor stage, histological grade and estrogen receptor status), molecular profiling studies have defined breast cancer subtypes with distinct clinical outcomes. This mini-review considers recent studies which have used genomics technologies in an attempt to identify new biomarkers of prognosis and treatment response. These studies highlight the genetic heterogeneity that exists within breast cancers in space and time.
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