Bioinformatics Approaches to the Analysis of the Transcriptome of Animal Models of Cancer

The development of genetically engineered mouse (GEM) models of human disease have played an integral role in understanding the mechanisms of action of many classes of genes involved in cancer development and progression. Their development has been critical in exploring the complexity of interactions of biological processes occurring in the entire organism, particularly when combined with recent global genomic approaches and bioinformatics. It has become apparent that breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and multiple GEM models must be incorporated to represent the various forms of the human disease. Undoubtedly, these models and methods will be invaluable in the establishment of biomarkers and novel therapeutic approaches for patients with various subtypes of breast cancer.