The study, published online last week in the international journal Nature, reveals that this form of cancer is not one distinct single entity, but an extremely complex and evolved tumour with an unprecedented range of mutations.
Operating with the complexity of a mini ecosystem, triple negative breast cancers’ evolution before diagnosis may explain its ability to evade current therapies, earning it the distinction as the deadliest form of breast cancer.
The research team, including scientists from BC Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia, Cross Cancer Institute of Alberta and Cancer Research UK/University of Cambridge, unmasked this evolving cellular “ecosystem” and can now estimate how the genetic mutations accumulated prior to diagnosis.
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Image: Breast cancer image Credit: Nasa Goddard from Flickr
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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