Tailored therapies have led to considerable success in treating some breast cancers, such as hormone therapies (e.g. tamoxifen, and inhibitors of the enzyme aromatase, involved in oestrogen synthesis) for ER-positive disease, and trastuzumab (Herceptin) for HER2-positive breast cancer; however, drug resistance to these regimes is common (Osborne and Schiff, 2011; Palmieri et al., 2014; Luque-Cabal et al., 2016). This evidence concerns the gene ERBB2 and breast cancer.