What Is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is a disease in which atypical breast cells grow intensely to form tumors. Breast cancer starts inside the milk ducts and/or its lobules. The earliest stage is in situ (e.g. ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)), but if left unchecked, breast cancer can spread and become life-threatening (1). Breast cancer is complexified not only by its staging, but also by the presence of specific proteins / genes often detected with a tissue or liquid biopsy (e.g. estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), HER2, and more) (2). ER, PR, and HER2 testing should also be performed using methodologies outlined in guidelines (3, 4, 5).

Cerba Research offers a wide range of histopathology and biomarker solutions that can be detected with cutting-edge techniques. Get in touch to learn more.

Cerba Research Breast Cancer Services

Our breast cancer specialists support the whole range of breast studies from discovery / preclinical (data not shown) to phase III registration trials and beyond. Most of our projects include specialty testing, such as, but not limited to, NGS broad-panel assays, ctDNA panels, 250+ IHC simplex and multiplex protocols, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Our Areas Of Expertise In Breast Cancer

Did you know that we can cover for your breast cancer biomarker needs? Check out our mapping exercise by select breast biomarkers against our Cerba Research offerings with three techniques (NGS, IHC, FISH) (3, 4). Interested in artificial intelligence (AI) image analysis for your breast cancer trial? Check out our resources here.

dMMR=mismatch repair deficient; ESR1=estrogen receptor 1; FISH=fluorescence in situ hybridization; IHC=immunohistochemistry; ISH=in situ hybridization; MSI-H=microsatellite instability-high; NGS=next-generation sequencing; PCR=polymerase chain reaction; TMB-H=tumor mutational burden-high

References

1. World Health Organization: Breast cancer. URL [Breast cancer (who.int)].

2. American Cancer Society®: What is breast cancer? URL [What Is Breast Cancer? | American Cancer Society].

3. Wolff AC, Hammond MEH, Allison KH, Harvey BE, Mangu PB, Bartlett JMS, Bilous M, Ellis IO, Fitzgibbons P, Hanna W, Jenkins RB, Press MF, Spears PA, Vance GH, Viale G, McShane LM, Dowsett M. Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Testing in Breast Cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists Clinical Practice Guideline Focused Update. J Clin Oncol. 2018 Jul 10;36(20):2105-2122. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2018.77.8738. Epub 2018 May 30. PMID: 29846122.

4. National Comprehensive Cancer Network®: NCCN guidelines, treatment by cancer type. URL [Treatment by Cancer Type (nccn.org)].

5. Allison KH, Hammond MEH, Dowsett M, McKernin SE, Carey LA, Fitzgibbons PL, Hayes DF, Lakhani SR, Chavez-MacGregor M, Perlmutter J, Perou CM, Regan MM, Rimm DL, Symmans WF, Torlakovic EE, Varella L, Viale G, Weisberg TF, McShane LM, Wolff AC. Estrogen and Progesterone Receptor Testing in Breast Cancer: ASCO/CAP Guideline Update. J Clin Oncol. 2020 Apr 20;38(12):1346-1366. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.02309. Epub 2020 Jan 13. PMID: 31928404.