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Breast Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Strategies

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A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Biology and Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 6824

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xuemei Xie

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Guest Editor

Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Interests: breast cancer; translational cancer research; tumor microenvironment; immunotherapy

Dr. Toshiaki Iwase

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Guest Editor

Dr. Jangsoon Lee

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Guest Editor

Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Interests: translational research; aggressive breast cancer; preclinical research; drug-resistance mechanism; tumor microenvironment
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, “Breast Cancer: Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Strategies”, will focus on the pathophysiology of breast cancer, new prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers of breast cancer, and novel therapeutic approaches for this disease.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States and around the world. The pathophysiology of breast cancer is complex, and numerous factors in a tumor and its microenvironment coordinately contribute to its progression and aggressiveness. Use of biomarkers has advanced breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis and prediction of therapeutic response. Identification of biomarkers has also advanced the development of targeted therapies for breast cancer. Novel therapeutic approaches and drug delivery systems have shown a promising beneficial effect in preclinical or clinical settings by affecting tumorigenesis, metastasis, and tumor–microenvironment interactions.

This Special Issue is open for basic and translational research and invites original articles and reviews on the following topics:

Pathophysiology;
Biomarkers;
New therapeutic approaches;
Drug delivery systems;
Immuno-oncology and the tumor microenvironment.

Dr. Xuemei Xie
Dr. Toshiaki Iwase
Dr. Jangsoon Lee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

breast cancer
pathophysiology
biomarker
therapeutic approach
tumor microenvironment

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2755 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Complex Analysis of Endothelial Markers as Potential Prognostic Indicators in Luminal Invasive Breast Carcinoma Patients: Outcomes of a Six-Year Observational Study

by Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Piotr Rhone, Paulina Koziorzemska, Dorota Formanowicz and Barbara Ruszkowska-Ciastek

Biomedicines 2023, 11(8), 2246; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11082246 - 10 Aug 2023

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Abstract

(1) Background: Metastasis is a complex process in which the primary cancer cells spread to a distant organ or organs, creating a secondary tumor location, which in many patients leads to treatment failure and death. The aim of the present study was to assess the association of endothelial markers (i.e., sP-selectin, sE-selectin and von Willebrand factor) with the leptin-to-adiponectin ratio (LAR) and to perform an analysis of the predictive value on the survival of patients with luminal A and B invasive breast cancer (IBrC). (2) Methods: The trial included 70 treatment-naïve early-stage IBrC patients with a median age of 54.5 years and a median tumor diameter of 1.5 cm. The median duration of follow-up was 5.7 years, with a relapse rate of 15.71%. Specific immunoenzymatic kits were used to determine pre- and post-treatment concentrations of analyzed factors. (3) Results: Regardless of the treatment pattern, endothelial marker concentrations and the LAR increased after adjuvant treatment. The follow-up showed a significantly higher relapse rate in patients with IBrC who had higher pre-treatment sP-selectin and post-treatment LAR levels. According to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, a post-treatment LAR with a sensitivity of 88.9% and specificity of 57.9% discriminating cases with or without disease relapse. Additionally, a higher risk of breast cancer relapse was associated with a lower post-treatment sP-selectin concentration. (4) Conclusions: Our results showed mainly that pre-treatment sP-selectin levels and post-treatment LAR may have value as prognostic indicators and may contribute to predicting the future outcomes in patients with early-stage IBrC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breast Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Strategies)

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14 pages, 3202 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Evaluation of the Cytotoxicity of Doxorubicin in BT-20 Triple-Negative Breast Carcinoma Monolayer and Spheroid Cultures

by Keith N. Ncube, Tamarin Jurgens, Vanessa Steenkamp, Allan D. Cromarty, Iman van den Bout and Werner Cordier

Biomedicines 2023, 11(5), 1484; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11051484 - 19 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2106

Abstract

Three-dimensional cell culture models are increasingly adopted as preferred pre-clinical drug testing platforms, as they circumvent limitations associated with traditional monolayer cell cultures. However, many of these models are not fully characterized. This study aimed to characterize a BT-20 triple-negative breast carcinoma spheroid model and assess its susceptibility to doxorubicin in comparison to a monolayer model. Spheroids were developed using the liquid overlay method. Phenotypic attributes were analyzed by characterizing changes in size, gross morphology, protein content, metabolic activity, hypoxic status, and cell–cell junctions. The cytotoxic range of doxorubicin in monolayers was determined using the sulforhodamine B assay, and the comparative effect of toxic and sub-toxic concentrations was assessed in both spheroids and monolayers. Similar to the in vivo microenvironment, spheroids had a heterogeneous spatial cytoarchitecture, inherent hypoxia and strong adherens junctions. Doxorubicin induced dose-dependent cytotoxicity in monolayers (IC₂₅: 130 nM, IC₅₀: 320 nM and IC₇₅: 1580 nM); however, these concentrations did not alter the spheroid size or acid phosphatase activity. Only concentrations ≥6 µM had any effect on spheroid integrity. In comparison to monolayers, the BT-20 spheroid model has decreased sensitivity to doxorubicin and could serve as a better model for susceptibility testing in triple-negative breast cancer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breast Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Strategies)

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13 pages, 2271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Use of Wound Infiltration for Postoperative Pain Management after Breast Cancer Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Study

by Flaviu Ionut Faur, Ioana Adelina Clim, Amadeus Dobrescu, Alexandru Isaic, Catalin Prodan, Sabrina Florea, Cristi Tarta, Bogdan Totolici, Ciprian Duţă, Paul Pasca and Gabriel Lazar

Biomedicines 2023, 11(4), 1195; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11041195 - 17 Apr 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1747

Abstract

(1) Background: The present study aims to evaluate the reduction of postoperative pain in breast surgery using a series of local analgesics, which were infiltrated into the wound; (2) Methods: Envelopes containing allocation were prepared prior to the study. The patients involved were randomly assigned to the groups of local anesthesia infiltration (Group A) or normal pain management with intravenous analgesics (Group B). The random allocation sequence was generated using computer-generated random numbers. The normally distributed continuous data were expressed as the means (SD) and were assessed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent-sample t-test, or paired t-test; (3) Results: The development of the postoperative pain stages was recorded using the VAS score. Therefore, for Group A, the following results were obtained: the VAS at 6 h postoperatively showed an average value of 0.63 and a maximum value of 3. The results for Group B were the following: the VAS score at 6 h postoperatively showed an average value of 4.92, a maximum of 8, and a minimum of 2; (4) Conclusions: We can confirm that there are favorable statistical indicators regarding the postoperative pain management process during the first 24–38 h after a surgical intervention for breast cancer using local infiltration of anesthetics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breast Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Strategies)

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Review

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16 pages, 784 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Role of Female Reproductive Hormones in the Association between Migraine and Breast Cancer: An Unanswered Question

by Paola Tiberio, Alessandro Viganò, Mariya Boyanova Ilieva, Sebastiano Pindilli, Anna Bianchi, Alberto Zambelli, Armando Santoro and Rita De Sanctis

Biomedicines 2023, 11(6), 1613; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11061613 - 1 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1368

Abstract

Accumulating epidemiological studies have investigated a possible interconnection between migraine (Mi) and breast cancer (BC) because of the strong link between these diseases and female reproductive hormones. This review aims to consolidate findings from epidemiological studies and explore biologically plausible hypothetical mechanisms related to hormonal pathways. Current evidence suggests a protective role of Mi in BC development, particularly in case–control studies but not in cohort ones. The inconsistency among studies may be due to several reasons, including diagnostic criteria for Mi and the age gap between the development of these two diseases. Furthermore, recent research has challenged the concept of a net beneficial effect of Mi on BC, suggesting a more complex relationship between the two conditions. Many polymorphisms/mutations in hormone-related pathways are involved in at least one of the two conditions. The most promising evidence has emerged for a specific alteration in the estrogen receptor 1 gene (rs2228480). However, the possible specific mutation or polymorphism involved in this association has not yet been identified. Further studies with robust methodologies are needed to validate the protective role of Mi in BC and fully elucidate the precise nature of this causal relationship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breast Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Strategies)

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