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Genetics

BCL11A—targeting triple-negative breast cancer?

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 12, page 127 (2015)Cite this article

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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) refers to any breast cancer that does not express the oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2 receptor; this disease subtype accounts for around 15% of all breast cancer cases, and is associated with a poor prognosis. Owing to the lack of ER, PR, and HER2 expression, no targeted therapy is currently available for TNBC, leaving a combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy as the only treatment option. Now, Walid Khaled and colleagues have identified a gene, encoding the transcription factor BCL11A, that is overexpressed in TNBC and could provide the first rationale for a targeted treatment in this disease setting.

The results of this study strongly suggest that BCL11A could be a good biomarker for the identification of TNBC tumours and, most importantly, that the inhibition of BCL11A could provide a targeted therapeutic approach for the treatment of patients with TNBC.

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References

  1. Khaled, W. T. et al. BCL11A is a triple-negative breast cancer gene with critical functions in stem and progenitor cells. Nat. Comm. 10.1038/ncomms6987

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Authors
  1. Alessia Errico
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Errico, A. BCL11A—targeting triple-negative breast cancer?. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 12, 127 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2015.10

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