DeCure for Estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer
DeCure's autonomous Cancer AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer — screening already-approved drugs against its 41-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleEstrogen-receptor positive breast cancer maps to a 41-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
zinc finger MIZ-type containing 1 (ZMIZ1) — ZMIZ1 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet unxdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 5AIZ · 1.7 Å · ligand UNKNOWN ATOM OR ION (UNX). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a 1981 series of primary breast cancers from postmenopausal women, 59% were oestrogen-receptor positive. Those patients survived significantly longer than oestrogen-receptor negative patients, but the effect was only seen—and then markedly accentuated—in women who had lymph-node invasion at mastectomy. The same determinations were said to be of value in selecting patients who, on recurrence, would benefit from tamoxifen therapy.
A 2022 single-institution study of 2,660 consecutive female patients with oestrogen-receptor positive breast cancer managed between 2005 and 2015 reported a median follow-up of 97.2 months. At presentation, 5.6% had metastatic disease. Over follow-up, 12.4% suffered a recurrence: 2.1% locoregional and 10.3% distant. The median time to locoregional relapse was 53.1 months versus 48.1 months for distant relapse. Among those with distant recurrence, bone was the most common initial site (18.8%), followed by liver (18.0%), lung (5.3%), and brain (5.1%). The authors concluded that relapse occurs most commonly to bone, liver, lung and brain, and that novel strategies to prevent relapse are needed.
A second 2022 study from the same institution, covering 2,304 patients with a median follow-up of 98.2 months, examined surgical management. Overall, 69.2% underwent breast conserving surgery and 30.8% mastectomy. Older age, larger tumour size, grade 3 disease, and positive nodal status were all associated with mastectomy. Patients who had breast conserving surgery showed better disease-free survival and overall survival than those who had mastectomy (both P<0.001). Mastectomy was associated with worse disease-free survival (hazard ratio 2.739, 95% CI 2.189–3.427) and worse overall survival (hazard ratio 2.003, 95% CI 1.616–2.482). The authors stated that breast conserving surgery remains the gold standard where feasible.
What is still missing is prospective data on how to stratify patients by receptor status and nodal involvement to decide who will actually benefit from endocrine therapy, and whether the observed survival differences between surgical approaches reflect patient selection rather than the operation itself. No trial design has yet separated the effect of tumour biology from the effect of treatment choice in a randomised setting.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Environmental Health Perspectives · 1981 · 6 citations · open access
Estrogen receptors and breast cancer.
AbstractEstrogen receptors have been assayed in a series of primary breast cancers from postmenopausal women; 59% of which were estrogen-receptor positive. These patients survived for a significantly longer period of time than those whose tumors were estrogen-receptor negative. The effect of estrogen-receptor status was only seen (and then markedly accentuated) in patients who had lymph-node invasion at the time of mastectomy. Such determinations also appear to be of value in preselecting those patients who, on recurrence, will benefit from tamoxifen therapy.
Mesentery and Peritoneum · 2022 · 0 citations · open access
AB004. SOH22ABS111. Relapse patterns in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer
AbstractBackground: Estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer is the most common breast cancer molecular subtype. The natural history of ER+ breast cancer involves good prognoses, however, when recurrences occur, they are associated with poor outcomes. Methods: Consecutive female patients with ER+ breast cancer managed in a single institution between 2005–2015 were included. Patterns of locoregional and distant disease recurrence were outlined using descriptive statistics. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined using Kaplan-Meier (log-rank) analyses. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v26.0. Results: A total of 2,660 patients were included with a median age of 59.6±13.3 years (21–99 years). Median follow-up was 97.2 months (3.0–181.2 months). Overall, 5.6% of patients had metastatic disease at presentation (149/2,660). At median follow up, 12.4% of patients suffered a recurrence (450/2,660): 2.1% of patients suffered a locoregional recurrence (56/2,660) and 10.3% patients suffered distant recurrence (394/2,660). The median time to relapse for patients suffering locoregional recurrence was 53.1 versus 48.1 months for those suffering distant recurrence. Of those suffering disease recurrence or death, bone was the most common initial site of distant recurrence (18.8%, 74/394), followed by liver (18.0%, 71/394) followed by lung recurrences (5.3%, 21/394) and then brain recurrences (5.1%, 20/394). Conclusions: In patients with ER+ breast cancer, relapse occurs most commonly to bone, liver, lung and brain. The development of novel therapeutic strategies to prevent relapses are crucial in increasing the longevity of life for those diagnosed with ER+ breast cancer.
Mesentery and Peritoneum · 2022 · 0 citations · open access
AB150. SOH22ABS120. Surgical management of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer in the West of Ireland
AbstractBackground: Estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer accounts for 70–80% of new diagnoses. The cornerstone of breast cancer management involves surgical resection, with judicious use of chemoendocrine and radiotherapies. Methods: Consecutive female patients with ER+ breast cancer managed in a single institution between 2005–2015 were included. Descriptive statistics were used as appropriate to outline clinicopathological and treatment data. Survival analyses were performed using Cox regression and log-rank Kaplan-Meier analyses. Results: A total of 2,304 patients were included with a median age of 58.0±12.1 years (range, 21–95 years). Median follow-up was 98.2 months. Overall, 69.2% of patients underwent breast conserving surgery (BCS) (1,595/2,304) and 30.8% underwent mastectomy (709/2,304). Furthermore, sentinel lymph node biopsy was performed in 1,322 of cases (57.4%) and axillary lymph node dissection in 982 cases (42.6%). Older age at diagnosis (P=0.006), increased tumour size (P<0.001), grade 3 disease (P<0.001) and nodal status (P<0.001) were all associated with mastectomy. Patients undergoing BCS had enhanced disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (both P<0.001) than those undergoing mastectomy. Patients undergoing mastectomy had worse DFS [hazard ratio (HR): 2.739, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 2.189–3.427, P<0.001] and worse OS (HR: 2.003, 95% CIs: 1.616–2.482, P<0.001). Conclusions: The surgical management of breast cancer depends on routine clinicopathological parameters, such as patient age, tumour grade and tumour and axillary staging. In ER+ breast cancers, BCS remains the gold standard where feasible.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
