Although treatment therapies for primary breast cancer have improved, aggressive breast cancer which spreads to the brain, known as brain metastasis, has inadequate treatment options and poor survival outcomes. The objective of our work is to identify the key features which enable a breast tumour to spread from the breast to brain. Our study will investigate biopsies donated from our breast cancer patients that have had metastatic disease to the brain. Preliminary study revealed that breast cancer cells can adapt to the way they communicate with each other and can switch on and off different genes allowing the cancer to survive in the brain. Changes in gene expression between the primary and metastatic cancer suggest current therapies may not be optimal. This work will identify key players and the findings have the potential to change treatment care for breast cancer patients with metastatic brain disease.
