Gene Expression Analysis of Breast Cancer Progression
Abstract
Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease with varying clinical behavior, and response to therapy that cannot be predicted based on clinical and pathologic classifications. It is the primary goal of our research to identify and characterize biological pathways and individual molecular components that play a primary role in BC development and progression. In order to identify genes, gene expression profiles and molecular pathways associated with metastatic BC we have performed genome-wide gene expression analysis of a large number of breast cancer samples. Both unsupervised and supervised analyses are being used to identify genes differentially expressed among samples. Hierarchical clustering showed that most samples grouped according to estrogen receptor status. In addition, matched primary carcinomas and lymph node metastases tended to pair demonstrating marked conservation of molecular phenotype within patients. Formal statistical testing is being used to identify genes with marked changes in expression during progression. Lymph node metastases in particular showed significant decreases in the expression of many genes corresponding to extracellular matrix proteins and proteases when compared to matched primaries. Further expression changes in a variety of genes were associated with distant metastases. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization are being used to validate and extend findings.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA418336
Entities
People
- William L. Gerald
Organizations
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center