Stay tuned and follow the latest developments and news in Molecular Oncology.
Breast cancer remains the most common type of cancer among women worldwide and remains the leading cause of death. Neuroendocrine breast cancer (NBC), a rare subtype that occurs in less than 1% of cases, is usually found in older women and is a slow-growing, low-grade disease. NBC presents with distinct histological features and immunohistochemical markers. Given the limited data on NBC, analyses are needed to provide information on the molecular profile and to aid in clinical decision-making.
This study aimed to investigate whether ONCOTYPE DX could help in treatment planning for patients with NBC
In this study was performed analysis with Oncotype DX in four pre-menopausal women with clear NBC, with no family history. All patients were lymph node-negative, with strong expression of neuroendocrine markers. Despite the high expression of hormonal receptors, all tumors were poorly differentiated with increased Ki67 levels. Oncotype DX analysis showed the need for chemotherapy in three of the four cases and in one case there appeared to be no benefit based on gene signature. This highlights the heterogeneity of NBC tumors, emphasizing the importance of individualized treatment decisions.
While NBC is rare and lacks extensive studies, multigene testing such as Oncotype DX can play a central role in treatment planning, especially in cases with varying histological parameters.
Read the case study here: Neuroendocrine Breast Tumors: Could Multigene Assays Help in Guiding Treatment Decisions? Case Presentation