Frequent detection of PIK3CA mutations in single circulating tumor cells of patients suffering from HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer

Modern technologies enable detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in peripheral blood samples. Thus, CTC have attracted interest as markers for therapeutic response in breast cancer. First studies have incorporated CTC analyses to guide therapeutic interventions and stratification of breast cancer patients. Aim of this study was to analyze characteristic features of CTC as biomarker for predicting resistance to HER2-targeted therapies. Therefore, CTC from metastatic breast cancer patients with HER2-negative primary tumors screened for the prospective randomized phase III trial DETECT III were explored for their HER2 status and the presence of PIK3CA mutations.

Source: Molecular Oncology - July 21, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Christin Gasch, Theresa Oldopp, Oliver Mauermann, Tobias  M. Gorges, Antje Andreas, Cornelia Coith, Volkmar Müller, Tanja Fehm, Wolfgang Janni, Klaus Pantel, Sabine Riethdorf Source Type: research