Profeel Program

Molecular profiling of circulating tumor DNA.

Program Director
Dr. Barbara Pistilli, medical oncologist

New molecular analysis technologies make it possible to characterize gene or protein alterations specific to each breast cancer. The presence of certain of these alterations makes the cancer potentially responsive to targeted therapies. Several of these therapies have demonstrated their efficacy, while others are still in development.

Many of these abnormalities can now be identified through a simple blood test. This technique makes it possible to identify the alterations present in the cancer in less than two weeks, enabling a more responsive approach to patient care.

Objective: To guide patients with metastatic breast cancer toward innovative therapies by creating a “molecular profile” based on a liquid biopsy.

“I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. I first underwent chemotherapy, followed by surgery, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy. All of these treatments were very difficult to endure, but the cancer had disappeared.

In March 2017, Dr. Inès Vaz-Luis told me that the cancer had returned and had metastasized to my bones… Very quickly, I enrolled in a clinical trial and received a new medication that worked well, but after a year, new metastases had appeared.

Dr. Vaz-Luis then told me about the PROFEEL trial, which uses a blood test to identify targeted treatments that might be effective in my case. This blood test revealed that a new experimental drug might match the specific characteristics of my cancer… If this new treatment proves effective, it would be beyond my wildest hopes. I still want to believe in it."

Christine, 58,
treated at Gustave Roussy for metastatic breast cancer