title: Are breast cancers driven by fusion genes?
abstract: For many years, it was assumed that gene fusions were a type of mutation confined largely to leukemias and sarcomas. However, fusion genes are now known to be important in several epithelial cancers and a number have been described in breast cancers. In the December 2011 issue of Nature Medicine, Robinson and colleagues reported many more gene fusions -including the first recurrent fusion, SEC16A-NOTCH1 - in breast cancers. Several genes, including members of the MAST (microtubule-associated serine threonine) kinase and Notch gene families, are fused more than once. This finding supports an emerging story that most breast cancers express a number of fusion genes.
authors.affiliation: Hutchison/MRC Research Centre and Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0XZ, UK. pawe1@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Paul A W
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Howarth
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000235:genetics; D050939:Gene Fusion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D051881:Receptor, Notch1 / Q000235:genetics; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; C497761:NOTCH1 protein, human; D051881:Receptor, Notch1; C517555:SEC16A protein, human; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases