Breast Cancer Heterogeneity
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Updated: Oct 18, 2025

Heterogeneity Mapping of Protein Expression in Tumors using Quantitative Immunofluorescence
Published on: October 25, 2011
Caterina Fumagalli1, Massimo Barberis1
1Division of Pathology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, 20141 Milan, Italy.
Abstract:
Breast tumor heterogeneity is a major challenge in the clinical management of breast cancer patients. Both inter-tumor and intra-tumor heterogeneity imply that each breast cancer (BC) could have different prognosis and would benefit from specific therapy. Breast cancer is a dynamic entity, changing during tumor progression and metastatization and this poses fundamental issues to the feasibility of a personalized medicine approach. The most effective therapeutic strategy for patients with recurrent disease should be assessed evaluating biopsies obtained from metastatic sites. Furthermore, the tumor progression and the treatment response should be strictly followed and radiogenomics and liquid biopsy might be valuable tools to assess BC heterogeneity in a non-invasive way.
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