HER receptor expression and signalling pathways in formalin-fixed breast cancer tissues

Coordinator:		Prof. Dr. Karl-Friedrich Becker
Institution:		Institut für Pathologie der Technischen Universität München
Homepage:		www.path.med.tu-muenchen.de/

Mapping tumour cell protein networks in routinely processed clinical samples, such as formalin-fixed tissues, will be critical for realizing the promise of personalized molecular therapy as only a subset of patients will respond. We established a technology that is sensitive, cheap, and can be used in multiplex with a limited amount of routine clinical material (e.g. biopsies). Using our approach, each component of a network and its functional status can be assessed rapidly and in parallel.

The aims of this subproject are
(1) to determine the abundances and activation status of HER receptors and downstream signalling proteins and
(2) to validate novel disease markers identified in subproject #3 in order to predict response to current treatments.

The translational potential of our approach may be as follows: a named pathologic diagnosis, such as ductal breast carcinoma, will be supplemented by a molecular profile map that can be used to select an optimal panel of therapies. The protein profile can be monitored by repeat biopsy to evaluate the success of the therapy.