The availability of molecular information on breast cancer genomics is rapidly expanding. Patients who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer can easily be overwhelmed by volumes of information in a very short period of time. The good news is that all of the information available is meant to guide personal decisions for cancer management so that we use biology and science for real-life choices. Knowledge is power.

So you’ve just been diagnosed with breast cancer. What does that really mean? It turns out that “breast cancer” is actually just a broad category that covers several different diseases, some of which are not that dangerous and others that are. Using new so-called “genomic” tests that analyze the different genetic mutations in breast cancers, doctors have developed a new classification system for the various types of breast cancer. Another name for this classification – which is different from the genetic tests you may have heard about — is molecular subtyping.