Overview
The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit, Edinburgh, is based at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, with laboratories adjacent to the Edinburgh Breast Unit in the Western General Hospital.
Research teams at the unit are investigating the molecular mechanisms driving endocrine drug resistance in order to improve patient care by better targeting of endocrine and novel therapies. The unit will undertake comprehensive genetic, epigenetic and gene expression analyses to develop molecular profiles of breast tumours and characterise the underlying mechanisms and changes that occur during drug treatment.
Our focus
The main challenges in current breast cancer therapy are the early and accurate identification of patients whose tumours will not respond to endocrine therapies, the development of treatments for non-responders, and the prevention of endocrine resistance in previously responsive tumours. Despite substantial advances made in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of breast cancer there are still major challenges to overcome. Endocrine therapy targets the oestrogen receptor (ER) which is expressed by approximately 80% of all invasive breast cancers. Although response rates correlate to levels of ER expression, 20% of high ER cancers exhibit primary resistance and even in women who respond initially, duration of response is variable and the majority ultimately acquire resistance, through mechanisms that remain unclear.
The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit, Edinburgh, plans a comprehensive analysis of tumours at presentation and in response to treatment, in order to improve patient care by better targeting of endocrine and novel therapies. Several different approaches will be used, including an analysis of the nuclear chromatin, genetic and epigenetic changes, and molecular expression profiles. The integration of these datasets will lead to the development of a refined process for characterising tumours at presentation and predicting their response to therapy. Having achieved this, it may be possible to significantly improve clinical outcomes for patients with breast cancer as they will be less likely to receive an ineffective therapy.
Ultimately, these studies should result in patients more consistently receiving therapies appropriate for their tumour type, a better understanding of the development of resistance to endocrine therapy, and the identification of novel therapeutic targets.
