Understanding Intratumor Heterogeneity
Introduction It has been well understood that breast cancer is not just one disease, but comprises many subclasses of diseases ”1-3”.Direction of diagnosis and treatment therefore depends profoundly on the accurate prediction of the sub variety in order to effectively tailor treatment to patients and predict survival Of concern also is that a high degree of intratumor variability exists within a primary tumor.Taking only one biopsy, as research has shown, will not adequately represent the various genes expressed within a tumor ”4”.This raises the question of whether multiple biopsies should be taken to better guide treatment decisions.Multiple biopsies may most certainly reduce variance resulting from intratumor heterogeneity,and combining biopsies will provide a more comprehensive picture of the genetic makeup of a tumor.Additional research for multiple biopsies is necessary for directing multiple biopsies as part of regular practice.
Louis W.C.Chow
Organisation for Oncology and Translational Research,Hong Kong Comprehensive Centre for Breast Diseases, UNIMED Medical Institute, Hong Kong
国内会议
厦门
英文
505-508
2013-09-25（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）