Genomics: The breast cancer landscape [some free]

[Darwinsbulldog]

Gray, J. and B. Druker (2012). "Genomics: The breast cancer landscape." Nature 486(7403): 328-329.

Whole-genome sequencing of breast cancers is exposing the scope of tumour diversity and helping to pinpoint avenues for precise diagnostics and targeted therapy. See Articles p.346 & p.353, Letters p.395, p.400 & p.405
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture10983.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture11143.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture10933.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture11017.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture11154.html
The information-generating power of genome-analysis technologies is increasing at a rate that surpasses even the doubling in computer performance that is achieved every 18 months by the semiconductor industry1. Genome-analysis methods are now sufficiently powerful, fast and reliable that they are underpinning efforts to elucidate the molecular architecture of human cancers2, 3 and, in some cases, can be used in routine clinical practice4. Five papers5, 6, 7, 8, 9 published in this issue present whole-genome analyses of a range of different breast cancers, providing a comprehensive picture of breast cancer's genetic diversity and suggesting refined tumour-classification strategies and new lines of therapeutic attack.
Genome-analysis techniques allow detection of various genetic abnormalities, including DNA sequence changes, structural changes (such as translocations) that alter the order in which DNA segments occur in the genome, and copy-number variants, in which whole segments of DNA are deleted, duplicated or amplified. These techniques can also provide information about the transcriptome — the complement of RNA molecules that are transcribed from DNA — at a particular time or in a particular tissue. Furthermore, they can give an indication of epigenetic modifications, which are chemical modifications to DNA and associated proteins that regulate gene transcription rates without changing the nucleotide sequence.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...l/486328a.html