Molecular cytogenetics of mouse models of breast cancer

In summary, the comprehensive molecular cytogenetic analysis of mouse models of breast cancers has shown that tumorigenesis requires, as in human cancers, the acquisition of distinct genomic imbalances. Some of these imbalances are common to all analyzed mouse models, such as frequent copy number losses on chromosome 4. However, distinct differences exist as well. The projection of the maps of genomic imbalances identified in human breast carcinomas onto the mouse genome shows that a considerable proportion of genomic imbalances occur in both species, however, the comparative maps do not result in "mirror" images of genomic imbalances. That being said, the BRCA1-associated mouse tumors reveal a distribution of genomic imbalances and a level of genomic instability that is most similar to human breast cancers.