Local experts in breast cancer breakthrough
Local medical experts have developed the biggest gene database for Chinese breast cancer, decoding the special genetic features of Chinese patients. The database will offer support when looking for targets for precise treatment and new medicines.
Shanghai Cancer Center officials said its work had been published by world-leading journal Cell Metabolism.
Breast cancer has been the top female cancer in leading Chinese cities such as Shanghai for the past two decades. It is the most prevalent cancer for Chinese women.
“Compared with developed Western countries, the five-year survival rate in China lags behind. One important cause is that Chinese patients have their own features, while previous research mainly covered Western patients,” said Dr Shao Zhimin, director of the center’s breast surgery department. “Studying Chinese patients’ own genetic specialities is important for more precise and accurate diagnosis and treatment.”
Shao’s team selected 484 genes related to individualized treatment of breast cancer and completed a database with 1,134 samples of cancer tissue and blood as well as patients’ pathological information between April in 2018 and April last year to complete China’s first breast cancer genome with over 1,000 patients.
As precise medicine is the key for cancer diagnosis and treatment, the center established a precise cancer center in 2018 in cooperation with the Chinese National Genome Center in Shanghai for genetic testing and big data analysis, covering early screening, molecular subtyping, individualized treatment, treatment effect forecasts and monitoring.
Dr Shao Zhimin (left) discusses a breast cancer case with his team.
