The outlook for patients with breast cancer continues to improve, especially if it’s diagnosed at an early stage. To surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be added hormone or " biological " / targeted treatments with antibodies.


There is now hope for new " personalised " treatment - albeit not for another decade - resulting from a new UK study just published in " Nature ", available to read online ( http://bit.ly/1W3qEar ) - also widely reported in the media.


Breast cancers - like other cancers - result from " driver " mutations in cells. The study involved 560 breast cancers ( mostly in women, but including 4 men ). The scientists looked at the DNA of breast tissue samples and were able to find 93 genes ( a few already discovered, such as BRCA ) which, if mutated, could cause breast cancers. These are probably ALL the genes which may mutate to change normal breast tissue into cancer.


Each of these " genetic errors " COULD be exploited by new drugs. Thus in future every breast cancer patient could be given customised treatment - likely to be successful, with a minimum of side effects. It also raises the possibility of cancer-fighting vaccines " designed " for each patient according to the mutations in their individual cancers.


Even better might be a " universal cancer vaccine " which targets antigens that might be shared across cancers. However, affordable prevention ( or a cure ) for all the 200(+) types of cancer affecting human beings is probably a long way into the future. We live in hope .