Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 15, 2026
16:24
Profiling of Estrogen-regulated MicroRNAs in Breast Cancer Cells
Published on: February 21, 2014
20.6K
Transcriptomic profiles of endocrine-resistant breast cancer
Caroline Schagerholm Stanev1, Emmanouil G Sifakis2, Linnea Hases3,4
1Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. caroline.schagerholm@ki.se.
BMC Cancer
|October 14, 2025
Summary
Endocrine resistance in breast cancer is linked to specific gene expression patterns. Identifying these markers may improve prognosis for patients receiving endocrine therapy.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Genomics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Most breast cancer patients have estrogen receptor α (ER)-positive tumors and receive endocrine therapy.
- A significant portion of patients (nearly one-third) experience relapse, often with tumors still expressing ER.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate gene expression differences between endocrine-resistant and endocrine-sensitive ER-positive breast cancer.
- To identify potential prognostic markers for endocrine therapy response.
Main Methods:
- Compared gene expression in primary tumors of endocrine-resistant (N=69) versus endocrine-sensitive (N=77) patients.
- Analyzed RNA from archived tumor blocks using gene expression analysis.
Main Results:
- Resistant tumors showed higher grades, risk scores, and upregulated cell-cycle genes.
- Relapsed resistant tumors had upregulated metabolism-associated genes and downregulated estrogen-response genes compared to primary tumors.
Conclusions:
- Gene sets associated with endocrine resistance were identified.
- Transcriptomic and clinicopathological profiles may serve as prognostic markers for therapy response.
