Gene expression profiling predicts prognosis in breast cancer

Doctors from USA and Holland used DNA microarrays to analyse gene expression in primary breast cancers from 117 young women. Seventy marker genes of interest were studied and based on the expressed patterns of these genes the workers were able to predict the behaviour of the tumour (and hence the outlook for the patient) in 65/78 cases. It is likely that such gene profiling work will increase from now on.