Author(s)

Jian Li, Xue Lin, Nils Brünner, Huanming Yang, Lars Bolund

BGI, Shenzhen, China.
Department of Biomedicine, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.

Rapidly developing sequencing technologies and bioinformatic approacheshave provided us with an unprecedented instrument allowing for an unbiased and exhaustive characterization of the cancer genome in genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic dimensions. This review introduces recent excitingfindings and new methodologies in genomic breast cancer research. With this development, cancer genome research will illuminate new delicate interactionsbetween molecular networks and thereby unravelthe underlying biological mechanisms for cancer initiation and progression. It also holds promise for providing a molecular clock for the estimation of the temporal processes of tumorigenesis. These methods in combination with single cell sequencing will make it possible to construct a family tree elucidating the evolutionary lineage relationships between cell populations at single-cell resolution. The anticipatedrapid progress in genomic breast cancer research should lead to anenhanced understanding of breast cancer biology andguide us towardsnovel ways to ultimatelyprevent and cure breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Genome; Massively Parallel Sequencing; Pathway-Oriented Analysis; Mitochondrial Genome; Temporal Order of Aberrations; Single Cell Sequencing; Microbiome

J. Li, X. Lin, N. Brünner, H. Yang and L. Bolund, "Novel Methods in the Study of the Breast Cancer Genome: Towards a Better Understanding of the Disease of Breast Cancer," Journal of Cancer Therapy, Vol. 3 No. 5A, 2012, pp. 797-809. doi: 10.4236/jct.2012.325101.