Dissecting resistance to endocrine therapy in breast cancer

Abstract

Drugs that target the reliance of tumour cells upon estrogen signalling have revolutionised the treatment of breast cancer. Despite this, resistance to these endocrine therapies limits their utility. While the study of individual genes has contributed greatly to understanding drug resistance, relatively unbiased screening approaches may also be illuminating. The results of a high-throughput RNA interference screen identifying novel determinants of tamoxifen resistance support this conjecture and demonstrate that such approaches can identify clinically relevant genes, such as CDK10.