Dr John Bartlett - Professor of Molecular Pathology, Edinburgh University
The presence of chromosome 17 polysomy effectively predicted which patients would benefit from adjuvant anthracycline chemotherapy. Researchers analyzed 1,625 samples from NEAT (National Epirubicin Adjuvant Trial) and found that those patients with C17 polysomic tumours had significantly greater benefit from epirubicin than those without, even when taking HER2 status into consideration. Researchers suggest that this may explain the apparent association of anthracycline sensitivity and HER2 status which is located on this chromosome. Speaking at the 2008 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
