Prospects for the treatment of patients with difficult-to-diagnose breast tumors

After performing genomic methylation in a group of patients, the team found that breast phyllodes tumors had unique methylation compared to normal breast tissue and that the tumors were histologically similar.

A group of Australian scientists has discovered new biomarkers of breast phyllodes tumors , thereby opening up prospects for treating patients with this rare and difficult-to-diagnose breast tumor.

 Women should have regular screening to detect breast cancer early. (Photo: Getty Images)

In research published February 1 in the Journal of Pathology, scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research improved a DNA methylation machine to distinguish breast phyllodes tumors from other tumors.

Accounting for less than 1% of breast tumors, phyllodes tumors are mostly benign, but 10% can be malignant. Due to little understanding of the molecular structure of this rare tumor, current diagnostic methods rely mainly on tissue examination.

According to scientist Ruth Pidsley at Garvan Institute, the study author, the current method of diagnosing breast phyllodes tumors is to analyze cell characteristics under a microscope. However, this technique can also lead to misdiagnosis of fibroadenoma, sarcoma (a type of cancer that begins in tissues) or anaplastic breast cancer.

Tumors may look similar but have different growth rates, prognoses and treatment options.

Ms. Pidsley commented that the epigenetic approach, focusing on studying DNA methylation patterns, will bring new information to traditional pathology research.

After performing whole-genome methylation of a group of 33 patients, the team found that breast phyllodes tumors had unique methylation compared to normal breast tissue and histologically similar tumors. sick.

Additionally, they identified 53 differentially methylated regions that can be used to distinguish malignant breast phyllodes tumors from benign cases, while also developing a machine learning algorithm to conduct distinguish.

Scientist Susan Clark, co-author and head of the Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory at Garvan, points to disruptions to epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation patterns. , is a sign of cancer. This sign can vary significantly between different types of cancer.

According to this scientist, leveraging the power of advanced epigenetics technologies such as digital PCR using microdroplet systems, the next step will be to conduct genetic-based PCR testing. Sensitive epigenetics to detect breast phyllodes tumors.

In the future, this may become a method commonly used in laboratories.