Fig.1 Breast cancer
Breast cancer is mainly considered to develop in cells from the lining of milk ducts and the lobules that produce the milk, which is known as ductal carcinomas and lobular carcinomas. Risk factors giving rise to breast cancer include being female, obesity, lacking of physical exercise and so on. Signs of breast cancer may include a red scaly patch of skin, a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin or fluid coming from the nipple. About 5–10% of cases can be attributed to genes inherited from a person's parents, including BRCA1 and BRCA2 among others. The diagnosis of breast cancer can be confirmed by taking a biopsy of the concerning lump. In addition, when the diagnosis is made, further tests need to be done to determine if the cancer has spread beyond the breast and which treatments it may respond to. Clinically, the most useful metabolic markers in breast cancer are the estrogen and progesterone receptors that are used to predict response to hormone therapy. HER-2 and SCD1 predict response to therapeutic regimens, and urokinase plasminogen activators (PA1-1 and SCD1) are used for assessing prognosis.
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