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Women diagnosed with breast cancer have their entire genetic code mapped, this is helping them chose the right treatment and predict whether patients are likely to experience side effects.It can also cancer that is becoming resistant to treatment. Sequencing the tumour leads to creation of barcode which shows the pattern of mutations in the cancer.
The barcode also enable surveillance whether a tumour is coming back because it is developing resistance to treatment – when those cells start releasing their DNA we can detect them in a blood test known as a liquid biopsy. All cancer patients have two genomes -germline DNA they inherited from their parents and the corrupted genetic code in their cancer.
Women diagnosed with breast cancer in Cambridge have a sample of their tumour and of their blood sent for sequencing, with the full results coming back within 12 weeks. The germline genome can indicate whether they inherited mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 genes, which increases their risk of both breast and ovarian cancer – these findings can also have implications for their wider family.
Tumour sequencing allows researchers to catalogue all the mutations in cancer cells and enables them to predict whether they will respond to specific treatments. Targeted therapies are designed for people whose cancer cells have specific gene mutations which ‘drive’ tumour growth.
Breast cancer patients in Cambridge are also offered the opportunity to take part in research involving so-called mouse avatars. Within an hour of their biopsy, samples from their tumour is injected under the skin of laboratory mice. These cancer avatars are used to model the effects of different treatments.
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