Lindström et al. scored hundreds of breast cancer relapse samples for oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and ERRB2 (also known as HER2) status. They compared these scores with the status of each protein recorded at diagnosis and found status changes for ER and PR in one-third of cases, and for ERBB2 in 15% of cases, with some of these correlating with poor survival. Thus, repeat biopsies would be useful to optimize treatment decisions.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Lindström, L. S. et al. Clinically used breast cancer markers such as estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 are unstable throughout tumor progression. J. Clin. Oncol. 2 Jul 2012 (doi:10.1200/JCO.2011.37.2482)
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Burgess, D. Mutable markers. Nat Rev Cancer 12, 511 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3338
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3338