Cellular Plasticity, Metabolic Adaptations and Therapeutic Strategies in Breast Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

Breast cancer represents a diverse group of diseases, shaped by underlying genetic, molecular, and cellular heterogeneity. Tumor plasticity and metabolic reprogramming allow cancer cells to adapt, persist, and ultimately drive disease progression even in the face of therapy. For early-stage breast cancer, surgery and radiotherapy remain the cornerstone treatments, often complemented by endocrine therapy for hormone receptor–positive disease and anti-HER2 agents for tumors overexpressing HER2. Chemotherapy is still widely used, especially in higher-risk or triple-negative cases. In advanced settings, treatment has evolved to include CDK4/6 inhibitors and, for those with BRCA mutations, PARP inhibitors. Antibody–drug conjugates and immunotherapy, particularly for select subgroups like PD-L1-positive triple-negative breast cancer, are offering new hope. Despite progress, therapy resistance and relapse, often driven by dynamic phenotypic switching and metabolic adaptation, underscore the urgent need for precision strategies that target these adaptive states and prevent escape mechanisms.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute your valuable work to this Special Issue on “Cellular Plasticity, Metabolic Adaptations and Therapeutic Strategies in Breast Cancer”.  

This Special Issue aims to collect papers focused on recent advances in the diagnosis, mechanisms, and treatment of breast cancer with an emphasis on plasticity-driven and metabolism-linked vulnerabilities.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Diagnosis and biomarkers: metabolic and plasticity biomarkers, liquid biopsy, multi-omics, single-cell/spatial profiling, functional imaging;
• Mechanisms of plasticity: EMT/MET dynamics, cancer stem cells, lineage/state transitions, epigenetic regulation of phenotype;
• Metabolic reprogramming: glycolysis and oxidative metabolism, lipid and one-carbon metabolism, redox balance, mitochondrial pathways;
• Tumor microenvironment: stromal–immune crosstalk, hypoxia/nutrient stress, extracellular vesicles and metabolic signaling;
• Therapeutic strategies: metabolism-targeted agents, differentiation/plasticity-modulating therapies, rational combinations with endocrine, anti-HER2, CDK4/6, PARP, ADCs, and immunotherapy;
• Resistance and translational studies: mechanisms of primary/acquired resistance, predictive signatures, biomarker-guided trials and real-world evidence.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Kunwar Somesh Vikramdeo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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