Predicting Bone Metastasis for Breast Carcinoma

Bone metastasis is the most common distant metastasis in advanced breast cancer patients which has significant impact on patient's quality of life. Breast carcinomas are a group of very heterogeneous tumors and

Bone metastasis is the most common distant metastasis in advanced breast cancer patients which has significant impact on patient＇s quality of life. Breast carcinomas are a group of very heterogeneous tumors and the most consistent pathologic features associated bone metastases have been estrogen receptor （ER） positivity, low histologic grade and lymph node metastasis. Many studies have attempted to identify predictive markers for bone metastasis without much success. This is because that many studies were 1） performed on mixed populations ofturnors without attention to their histulogic grade, nodal status, ER and Progesterone （PK） status; and 2） used single marker without correlation with other key clinicopathological factors. Also gene expression profiling for multigene predicative signatures needs fresh/frozen tissue and is technically complex, costly, and not ready for clinical application. In this project, we intend to overcome these shortcomings by first sub-grouping tumors into more homogeneous subgroups;