AURORA, an international molecular screening program conducted by the Breast International Group, has uncovered genetic pattern specific to metastatic breast cancer (MBC). By performing multi-omics profiling on primary tumor and paired metastases, the research program succeeded in identifying genomic alterations enriched in metastases and prognostic biomarkers. ESCAT tier I/II alterations were detected in over half of the 381 patients. The patients were recruited at the diagnosis of metastatic disease or after one line of therapy in 9 European countries (Belgium, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom).
OncoDNA has served as the central screening laboratory for the AURORA metastatic breast cancer research program, where we handled the sequencing of the DNA of FFPE tissue from the primary tumor, the metastatic biopsy, whole blood and ctDNA from plasma.
So far, progress in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer has mainly occurred through the conduct of empirical clinical trials in which patients are segregated by breast cancer subtyping, namely HR+/HER2-, HER2-positive or triple negative (TNBC). Consequently, treatment decisions are dictated by these limited subtypes, and the lines of therapy are usually based on the clinical-pathological characteristics of the primary tumor rather than on the characteristics of the tumor once it has spread.
The AURORA program has showed that integrating DNA and RNA sequencing in clinical practice could provide oncologists with additional insights to guide their treatment decision strategies.
Discover the detailed results published in Cancer Discovery
