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Breast cancer

The X factor

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 6, page 256 (2006)Cite this article

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Recent research from the groups of David Livingston and Shridar Ganesan indicates that X chromosome abnormalities might function in the development of both sporadic and familial (BRCA1-negative) basal-like breast cancer.

Evidence indicates that loss of BRCA1 function disrupts the maintenance of the normal inactive X chromosome — BRCA1-mutant cell lines and cancers no longer have markers of a normal inactivated X chromosome. In addition, a loss of X-inactivation markers has been noted in breast cancers that are more likely to fail hormone treatment — a characteristic of basal-like cancers (BLCs). So, first authors Andrea Richardson and Zhigang Wang asked whether similar X chromosome abnormalities were common in sporadic cases of BLC.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Richardson, A. L. et al. X chromosomal abnormalities in basal-like human breast cancer. Cancer Cell 9, 121–132 (2006)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Turner, N., Tutt, A. & Ashworth, A. Hallmarks of 'BRCAness' in sporadic cancers. Nature Rev. Cancer 4, 814–819 (2004)

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Authors
  1. Nicola McCarthy
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McCarthy, N. The X factor. Nat Rev Cancer 6, 256 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1873

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1873

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