Lani....sure you have read this...

[Jean]

Lani,
Have you heard of this new study?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154757.php

New Cancer Diagnostic MarkerMain called FOXA1 ?

They mention tamoxifen but does not mention AI's.
What if anything do you know about this and where can someone have the test?

Thanks,
Jean

[Lani]

The marker has been licensed by Clarient Inc., a California-based cancer diagnostics company that plans to develop a commercial test based on the research by Harikrishna Nakshatri, B.V.Sc., Ph.D., Marian J. Morrison Professor of Breast Cancer Research, and Sunil Badve, M.D., associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

I have spoken with the medical director of Clarient before at SABCS. His company also has an innovative/accurate method of looking for isolated tumor cells in bone marrow samples of breast cancer patients.

I am sure he would be trying to get this test out as soon as possible.

Unfortunately there are a myriad of ways that ER+ breast cancers are resistant to tamoxifen and I think the mechanism by which her2+ breast cancers are resistant to tamoxifen are different than her2-s for the most part from my reading.

Also from my reading, the ways breast cancers are resistant to AIs tends to be different from the ways they are resistant to tamoxifen for the most part, which is why a tumor which is resistant to tamoxifen may be sensitive to tamoxifen, why given estrogen to patients resistant to antihormonal treatments sometimes works etc.

I would be very interested if Clarient was testing for Fox P3, which may be related to an X linked form of her2+ perhaps usually ER+ familial form of breast cancer. Although most her2+ bc do not appear to be familial (it is totally unclear, however, as they have only been testing for her2 routinely for less than a decade and in some countries still aren't even doing that!), FoxP3 also has to do with Tregulatory cells, immune cells that don't seem to be doing what they should in her2+ breast cancer and which those doing vaccine studies in breast cancer would like to diminish in order to make their vaccines more effective.

I have asked various poster presenters at ASCO, AACR and SABCS and so far the immunohistochemistry tests for FOXP3 are multiple and not too reproducible/accurate. So mRNA testing or microgene array testing are so far the more accurate ways to detect FOXP3 status, and few can get that.

More ...as I find more.

In the meantime, I think this would be more applicable to her2- ER+ breast cancer, but will try to read the articles referred to (too bad they don't give authors) to see if my impressions hold up.

Am working with 9 hours jetlag, so don't hold your breath just yet.

[Jean]

Lani,
Thank you so much for your fast reply....know how that jet lag feels....yuck!

I was thinking the same that her2- er+ would have benefit...(you always hit the nail on the head)
My sister were recently dx. with Her2 - er +
and cannot take AI due to meds she is on for joint condition. So I was thinking tamoxifen - and was curious about this test.

Jean