Molecular Mechanisms and Translational Therapies for Human Epidermal Receptor 2 Positive Breast Cancer
by
Quanxia Lv 1,2,†, Ziyuan Meng 1,2,†, Yuanyuan Yu 1,†, Feng Jiang 1,2,3, Daogang Guan 1
, Chao Liang 1, Junwei Zhou 1, Aiping Lu 1,2,* and Ge Zhang 1,2,*
Quanxia Lv 1,2,†, Ziyuan Meng 1,2,†, Yuanyuan Yu 1,†, Feng Jiang 1,2,3, Daogang Guan 1, Chao Liang 1, Junwei Zhou 1, Aiping Lu 1,2,* and Ge Zhang 1,2,*
1
Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China
2
Institute of Precision Medicine and Innovative Drug Discovery, HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Haimen 226133, China
3
The State Key Laboratory Base of Novel Functional Materials and Preparation Science, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Academic Editor: Genxi Li
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2016, 17(12), 2095; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17122095
Received: 5 October 2016 / Revised: 15 November 2016 / Accepted: 1 December 2016 / Published: 14 December 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecule- and Cell-Targeted Drug Design and Screening and Identification of Natural Product)
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer (HER2+ BC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, with poor prognosis and a high rate of recurrence. About one third of breast cancer is HER2+ BC with significantly high expression level of HER2 protein compared to other subtypes. Therefore, HER2 is an important biomarker and an ideal target for developing therapeutic strategies for the treatment HER2+ BC. In this review, HER2 structure and physiological and pathological roles in HER2+ BC are discussed. Two diagnostic tests, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), for evaluating HER2 expression levels are briefly introduced. The current mainstay targeted therapies for HER2+ BC include monoclonal antibodies, small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antibody–drug conjugates (ADC) and other emerging anti-HER2 agents. In clinical practice, combination therapies are commonly adopted in order to achieve synergistic drug response. This review will help to better understand the molecular mechanism of HER2+ BC and further facilitate the development of more effective therapeutic strategies against HER2+ BC.
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Keywords:
molecular mechanism; translational therapy; HER2 positive breast cancer; diagnostic tests; monoclonal antibodies; small molecular inhibitors; antibody–drug conjugates
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MDPI and ACS Style
Lv, Q.; Meng, Z.; Yu, Y.; Jiang, F.; Guan, D.; Liang, C.; Zhou, J.; Lu, A.; Zhang, G. Molecular Mechanisms and Translational Therapies for Human Epidermal Receptor 2 Positive Breast Cancer. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2016, 17, 2095.
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