Enter Your Email Address to Receive a
Copy of MedicExhange Member Demograhpics

Folate receptor overexpression is associated with poor outcome in women with breast cancer, researchers report in the September 1st issue of the International Journal of Cancer. Folate receptor overexpression is associated with poor outcome in women with breast cancer, researchers report in the September 1st issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

"In an effort to identify new molecular targets for therapy in breast cancer, we studied the expression of the tumor-specific, high-affinity folate receptor in a set of breast cancers from women with widely divergent clinical outcomes," Dr. Lynn C. Hartmann told Reuters Health.

The team notes that the tumor specificity of the folate receptor makes it a promising target for molecular-based imaging and treatment strategies.

Dr. Hartmann of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota and colleagues studied tissue samples from 33 women who had a median time to breast cancer recurrence of 1.9 years and 30 women who were free from recurrence for at least seven years.

After adjustment for factors such as tumor size and adjuvant therapy, the researchers found a highly significant relationship between staining for the folate receptor and disease progression.

Specifically, Dr. Hartmann said, "We saw a strong correlation between high folate receptor expression and poor outcome, opening up the possibility of using folate-targeted therapies in women with breast cancer whose tumors overexpress this antigen.