Return to search

Identification of Molecular Alterations Associated with Loco-regional and Distant Breast Cancer Metastasis

Metastasis initiation is a complex process encompassing numerous steps. To identify molecular alterations associated with early and late stages of metastasis, we used high throughput screening techniques. Early events in metastasis were investigated by differential proteomic analysis of lymph node-negative and positive breast cancer samples. Two candidate biomarkers (DCN and HSP90B1) were discovered and further validated through tissue microarray analyses. To examine late events in metastasis formation, we prospectively evaluated genomic differences between disseminated tumour cells in bone marrow, and metastatic tumour cells obtained from computed tomography guided biopsies of bone metastases. Results indicate that specific subsets of genes are required for breast cancer cells to initiate bone metastases. Discovery of proteomic and genomic alterations specifically associated with metastases may yield biomarkers capable of stratifying patients into different risk categories. Proteins and genes identified in this work may form the foundation of a biomarker panel for metastatic risk assessment.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/18239
Date12 January 2010
CreatorsCawthorn, Thomas
ContributorsDone, Susan Jane
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

Page generated in 0.0019 seconds