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Breast Cancer: From Molecular Mechanism to Therapeutic Strategy

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 July 2026 | Viewed by 1155

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Interests: cancer; anticancer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Breast cancer remains one of the most prevalent and challenging malignancies worldwide, characterized by profound heterogeneity in molecular, cellular and clinical features. This Special Issue, titled “Breast Cancer: From Molecular Mechanism to Therapeutic Strategy”, aims to provide a comprehensive overview bridging fundamental insights into breast cancer biology with the development and optimisation of therapeutic approaches.

At the molecular level, recent advances have elucidated key signalling pathways, genetic and epigenetic alterations, tumour microenvironment dynamics, and mechanisms of metastasis and therapy resistance. Understanding these processes is critical for identifying novel biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and prediction, and for defining the molecular sub-strata of disease that demand tailored interventions.

On the therapeutic front, this Issue emphasises how these molecular findings inform the design of improved treatment strategies, including targeted therapies, immunotherapies, combination regimens, and approaches addressing resistance mechanisms. Importantly, integration of molecular biomarkers into clinical decision-making and treatment algorithms is a central theme, enabling the move towards precision medicine in breast oncology.

The aim of this Issue is to integrate basic knowledge, translational research, and clinical experience to contribute to the development of more effective, targeted, and safe treatments for breast cancer. Furthermore, it serves as a platform for knowledge exchange between scientists, clinicians, and biotechnologists, supporting the development of innovative therapeutic strategies in the coming years.

I cordially invite you to submit original research articles and review papers on these widely discussed topics.

Dr. Anna Makuch-Kocka
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • breast cancer
  • molecular mechanisms
  • therapeutic strategies
  • tumor microenvironment
  • precision oncology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

26 pages, 1336 KB  
Review
Molecular and Clinicopathological Biomarkers Predicting Brain Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review
by Savi Agarwal, Pasha Mehranpour, Anjani Chawla, Carissa Vaish, Simon Han, Isaac Yang and Madhuri Wadehra
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(4), 1909; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27041909 - 16 Feb 2026
Viewed by 882
Abstract
Almost half of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) develop brain metastasis (TNBCBM), a marker of poor prognosis. TNBC is a more aggressive breast cancer subtype which lacks ER, PR, and HER2 expression, and thus, exploring predictive biomarkers is crucial to improving TNBCBM [...] Read more.
Almost half of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) develop brain metastasis (TNBCBM), a marker of poor prognosis. TNBC is a more aggressive breast cancer subtype which lacks ER, PR, and HER2 expression, and thus, exploring predictive biomarkers is crucial to improving TNBCBM outcomes through targeted therapy. To curate these biomarkers, peer-reviewed publications from 2010 to 2025 were extracted from PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science if they evaluated clinicopathological biomarkers of TNBCBM. A total of 130 studies (60 clinical and 70 pre-clinical) were included. Publications most often featured transcriptomic studies, growth factor receptors, and immune microenvironment markers with 37, 19, and 17 studies identified, respectively. While TNBC aggressiveness has been linked to metastasis, advancing stage, and poor prognosis, several studies focused on utilizing circulating protein and transcriptomic biomarkers for early detection. While few pathways appeared specifically for TNBCBM, investigating these biomarkers further may allow for improved risk stratification, clinical trial design, patient selection, and therapeutic development. Identification of the most promising biomarkers will pave the way for improved prognosis of the most lethal complications of TNBC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breast Cancer: From Molecular Mechanism to Therapeutic Strategy)
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