SP9 - Clinical Validation

A. Schneeweiss (Oncological Clinics Heidelberg)

According to the current biomedical understanding, drug resistance in breast cancer is caused by modulations of the molecular mechanisms in a complex network of proteins as well as other factors (e.g., miRNAs) that regulate cell proliferation by transcriptional activation of cell cycle regulating proteins via growth factor and hormone signaling. Hence, our first objective is to collect and provide biomaterial from breast cancer patients to establish and prove the clinical relevance of protein network components that influence cell cycle regulation in breast cancer as they are analyzed in the other subprojects. Our second aim is to integrate experimental results with patient data, to assess the clinical significance with respect to molecular mechanisms causing loss of cell cycle arrest and acquired drug resistance. The results obtained should enter into the design of novel combinatorial therapies, thus minimizing the possibilities for acquired drug resistance.

We work according to national public laws and to the regulations of the local Ethics Committee. A positive vote of the Ethics Committee of Heidelberg University has been obtained that covers all projects and subprojects of IG-CSG. Patients are recruited into the study at the University Clinics Heidelberg. Inclusion criteria are: unclear findings in patients (mamma) who have approved their willingness to contribute to this study and who receive adjuvant treatment. Exclusion criteria are: Patients who refrain from signing the patient declaration of consent and patients receiving neo-adjuvant treatment. All patient data are pseudonymized during the study in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the University Clinics, so that no tracing of individuals is possible for researchers within other subprojects who work with the patient samples.