The HER Pathway and Cancer

[Music] welcome I'm Deema Baga vice-president in clinical oncology at Genentech and this is gene expressions back in the 1980s Genentech scientists worked with several other researchers and clinicians to identify the role of a receptor called her2 in breast cancer at that time it was discovered that over expression or an excess of her2 receptors on a breast tumor cell or multiple copies of the her2 gene in the nucleus of the cell could lead to a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer this cancer became known as her2 positive breast cancer her2 can impact a network of messages or signals inside the cell that helped tell the cell to grow divide or stay alive this network is called to her pathway preclinical studies have shown that in her2 positive cancer the her pathway is overly active too many signals running through the her pathway can lead to uncontrolled cell growth and potentially contribute to cancer development receptors which are a type of protein exists on the surface of both normal and cancerous cells and are responsible for breaking signals from the outside of the cell into the cell the for her receptors per one which is sometimes called EGFR her to her three and her four are specifically responsible for sending signals within the her pathway each receptor must pay or dimerize with another her receptor to send signals along the pathway receptor pairing is thought to play a key role in tumor growth and survival although any her receptor can potentially contribute to human growth and survival the her2 receptor mately the most significant role in cancer her2 containing receptor pairs lead to stronger signals through the her pathway compared to receptor pairs that do not contain her too the pairing of her2 and her three for example is thought to trigger the strongest signaling of all receptor combinations her2 positive breast cancer is often considered aggressive because it grows and spreads quickly and has a poor prognosis her2 overexpression affects about 25 percent of people with breast cancer [Music] because her two can play an integral role in the growth and spread of cancer cells researchers believe targeting and blocking her two signaling is an effective way to treat her to positive breast cancer there are several possible ways to target her - all of which involve interfering with the her pathway to stop the cascade of signals which lead to cell growth and survival anyone with breast cancer should be tested to determine the her2 status of her or his tumor which could help determine an appropriate therapy at Genentech we have been studying the role of her - in cancer for more than 30 years we continue to follow the science in the hope of developing new medicines that could help more people with her2 positive disease thanks for joining me I'm Deidre burger and this has been gene expressions you [Music]

Channel: Genentech

Views: 84,615

Keywords: Breast, Cancer, Gene, Expressions, Genentech, Oncology, HER2, Pathway, Treatment, Medicine, Metastatic, MBC

Id: Q3Tzc3jGt3U

Length: 4min 32sec (272 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 11 2012