Resistance to chemotherapy

Breast cancer patients with seemingly similar disease may have very different responses to chemotherapy. We are performing genetic analyses of tumours from patients that have been treated with single chemotherapeutic drugs before surgery, and link our findings to detailed clinical records of the patients’ response to a given drug. This enables identification of genetic alterations predicting sensitivity or resistance to the individual drugs.

The aim of this project is to identify biomarkers that can be applied in the clinic to guide treatment choice for the individual patient, thereby enabling early administration of an optimal treatment regimen and sparing patients from side effects of inefficient drugs.

This project has led to implementation of several clinical trials.

Key publications:

• Knappskog et al. Molecular Oncol., 2015
• Knappskog et al. Breast Cancer Res., 2012
• Chrisanthar et al. PLoS ONE, 2008
• Geisler et al. Cancer Res., 2001
• Aas et al. Nature Med., 1996