The Mechanisms of Resistance in Breast Cancer

George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, Chief, Division of Oncology, Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses the mechanisms of resistance in breast cancer.

Clinical Pearls

The oncology community has discovered the mechanisms of resistance for several types of cancers, Sledge says. The next step is to figure out ways around them. A good example of this, Sledge notes is that when a patient becomes resistant to an aromatase inhibitor, mTOR inhibitors (such as everolimus) can overcome mechanisms of resistance. The oncology community now needs to apply known information to the entire breast cancer puzzle.

• The mechanisms of resistance for several types of cancers are known
• When a patient becomes resistant to an aromatase inhibitor, mTOR inhibitors can overcome mechanisms of resistance
• The next step, Sledge says, is to apply known information to the breast cancer puzzle