Breast cancer is the number one cancer among women: more than 2 million cases were diagnosed worldwide in 2022. It is also particularly challenging to treat. Physiologist Anna-Mart Engelbrecht, who heads the Cancer Research Group at Stellenbosch University, explains why this is so and how precision medicine could help.
How do tumours work?
Normally, cell growth, cell division and cell death are tightly regulated processes. But mutations in a cell’s DNA can disrupt this regulation, leading to abnormal cell proliferation, forming tumours.
