BREAST cancer is effectively 10 different diseases, according to breakthrough research that could revolutionise treatment.
The finding brings doctors closer to the holy grail of tailoring treatments to individual women. The rewriting of the rule book on breast cancer could also lead to new drugs and better diagnostic tests.
Dr Julia Wilson, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “ This is incredibly exciting research which has the potential to change the face of breast cancer; from how we diagnose and treat it, to how we follow it up afterwards.” However, the need for more research means it will be three to five years before women with breast cancer can start widely reaping the benefits of the shakeup in treatment.
When a woman is diagnosed, her tumour is classified into one of four types, simply by looking at tissue from it down a microscope. This provides a guide as to how long a woman is likely to survive and which drugs will be effective.
But the system is far from infallible, with some treatments failing unexpectedly and other women surprising doctors by beating a supposedly extra hard- totreat tumour. The latest study, detailed in the prestigious journal Nature and funded by Cancer Research UK, helps explain why.
Dr Harpal Singh, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said the study was the culmination of decades of research.
He said: “ This really changes the way we think about breast cancer — no longer as one disease but actually as 10 quite distinct diseases, dependent on which genes are switched on and which ones aren’t for an individual woman.
“ This research will help us make a much more accurate, much more precise, diagnosis for every patient.” The painstaking analysis of the genetics of 2,000 tumours has revealed there to be 10 sub- types of the disease. Each tumour within a particular group shares similar genes and different women with the same type have similar odds of survival.
Head of research Dr Julia Wilson said: “ This is another important building block in our goal for women to receive tailormade treatments specific to their particular type of breast cancer.” Daily Mail The cancer is actually 10 diseases rolled into one