How big a role do your genes play in development of breast cancer? It's a question Dr. Malathy Shekher and her team are studying at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.

Shekher, an Associate Professor with institute and Wayne State University, says important bio-markers have been found that helped target effective treatment. But, after a few years, cancer becomes resistant and more work is needed.

"We are really interested in understanding what are the mechanisms that really lead to the path of resistance; can we identify some markers that can predict that a patient can respond to treatment or predict that they will not respond and eventually become resistant," Shekher said.

"We've come a long way. We've got good therapeutic strategies now," she said.

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