Study Finds ESR1 Mutations Drive Metastasis in ER-Positive Breast Cancer

In this video, Suzanne A. W. Fuqua, PhD, of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, discusses a new study that found that in addition to conferring resistance to hormone therapies, estrogen receptor (ESR1) mutations can cause cancer cells to metastasize.

The researchers generated ESR1 Y537S homozygous mutations using CRISPR Casp-9 technology and found that the mutation drove distant metastasis in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer cell xenografts. Using the METABRIC database, the researchers also found that this gene expression signature predicted poor disease-free survival and distant lung metastasis in ER-positive patients.

Fuqua presented results of the study at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held December 6–10 in San Antonio, Texas.