# Charles M. Perou

Source: https://onco.cc/people/charles-perou/  
OnCo record `charles-perou` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Defined the molecular subtypes of breast cancer (luminal, HER2-enriched, basal-like) that clinicians now use every day.

## Summary

Charles Perou led the 2000 Nature paper that used expression profiling to divide breast cancer into intrinsic subtypes, the classification that introduced basal-like disease and underpins triple-negative research. He developed the PAM50 assay that became Prosigna and co-led the TCGA breast cancer analysis. His lab continues to map breast tumour heterogeneity and immune microenvironments.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: breast; genomics; classification
- Role: Professor of Genetics and Pathology, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Specialisms: Breast cancer genomics; Intrinsic subtypes; PAM50; Tumour classification

## Sources

- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Perou%20CM%5BAuthor%5D%20breast%20subtypes

## Connected records

- cancers: [HER2-positive breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-her2-positive/), [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- technologies: [Companion diagnostics](https://onco.cc/technologies/companion-diagnostic/), [RNA sequencing & expression profiling](https://onco.cc/technologies/rna-seq/)
- institutions: [UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/unc-lineberger/)
- key papers: [Comprehensive molecular portraits of human breast tumours](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-tcga-breast-molecular-portraits-nature-2012/), [Gene expression patterns of breast carcinomas distinguish tumor subclasses with clinical implications](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sorlie-breast-carcinoma-subclasses-pnas-2001/), [Impact of the addition of carboplatin and/or bevacizumab to neoadjuvant once-per-week paclitaxel followed by dose-dense doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide on pathologic complete response rates in stage II to III triple-negative breast cancer: CALGB 40603 (Alliance)](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sikov-calgb-40603-carboplatin-bevacizumab-jco-2015/), [Molecular portraits of human breast tumours](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-perou-molecular-portraits-breast-tumours-nature-2000/), [Race, breast cancer subtypes, and survival in the Carolina Breast Cancer Study](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-carey-race-breast-cancer-subtypes-cbcs-jama-2006/), [Repeated observation of breast tumor subtypes in independent gene expression data sets](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sorlie-repeated-observation-subtypes-brca1-basal-pnas-2003/), [TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas: 10,000 tumours across 33 cancer types, classified by molecular features](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-tcga-pancancer-atlas-cell-2018/), [The functional loss of the retinoblastoma tumour suppressor is a common event in basal-like and luminal B breast carcinomas](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-herschkowitz-rb1-loss-basal-like-bcr-2008/)
- roadmaps: [Triple-negative breast cancer roadmap: from a remainder defined by three negative tests to immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates and the residual disease problem](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/tnbc-roadmap/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/charles-perou.json