IMR Press / FBL / Volume 22 / Issue 9 / DOI: 10.2741/4558

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Review

Tackling intra- and inter-tumor heterogeneity to combat triple negative breast cancer

Show Less
1 Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
2 Novazoi Theranostics, 26 Aspen Way, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274, USA
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2017, 22(9), 1549–1580; https://doi.org/10.2741/4558
Published: 1 March 2017
Abstract

Rampant inter-patient and intra-tumor heterogeneity present formidable challenges in the clinical management of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and mandate a “divide-and–conquer” approach wherein deep biomarker profiling drives patient segmentation and development of customized treatments. Genomic and proteomic studies have uncovered several TNBC subtypes each of which represents a distinct disease pathobiology and harbors unique actionable targets that may illuminate sensitivities to specific classes of therapeutics. This review details the mind-boggling complexity of TNBC, its ramifications for prognosis and therapeutic response, and discusses what treatments might befit each TNBC subtype. Additionally, focused efforts geared toward translating these findings into the clinic are urged. This review also supports an evidence-based paradigm shift towards inclusion of agents that target the mechanisms that drive intra-tumor heterogeneity, in order to improve long-term outcomes for TNBC patients.

Keywords
Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Heterogeneity
Biomarker
Targeted Therapy
Chemoresistance
Relapse
Review
Share
Back to top