Hunting the mechanism, not just the disease: The revolution in breast cancer treatment

Prof. Amir Sonnenblick explains the new approach to breast cancer treatment: Instead of treating the disease as a single diagnosis, personalized medicine focuses on the biological mechanism of each tumor, using molecular tests and liquid biopsy to identify mutations such as PIK3CA.

Prof. Amir Sonnenblick from the oncology department at Tel Aviv Medical Center explains the revolution in breast cancer treatment: a shift from looking only at the type of cancer to analyzing the unique biological mechanism of each tumor. Two women can receive the same diagnosis but have biologically different tumors. Molecular tests and liquid biopsy allow identification of genetic changes such as a mutation in the PIK3CA gene, which may have therapeutic significance. New studies have shown that adding a targeted therapy that inhibits the PI3K pathway improved treatment outcomes in women with advanced breast cancer. The goal is to match the right treatment to the right patient at the right time.