Kutasovic JR, McCart Reed AE, Sokolova A, Lakhani SR, Simpson PT. Morphologic and Genomic Heterogeneity in the Evolution and Progression of Breast Cancer.
Cancers (Basel) 2020;
12:E848. [PMID:
32244556 PMCID:
PMC7226487 DOI:
10.3390/cancers12040848]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
: Breast cancer is a remarkably complex and diverse disease. Subtyping based on morphology, genomics, biomarkers and/or clinical parameters seeks to stratify optimal approaches for management, but it is clear that every breast cancer is fundamentally unique. Intra-tumour heterogeneity adds further complexity and impacts a patient's response to neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy. Here, we review some established and more recent evidence related to the complex nature of breast cancer evolution. We describe morphologic and genomic diversity as it arises spontaneously during the early stages of tumour evolution, and also in the context of treatment where the changing subclonal architecture of a tumour is driven by the inherent adaptability of tumour cells to evolve and resist the selective pressures of therapy.
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