Breast cancer and metastasis: on the way toward individualized therapy

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) remains the most common cancer type diagnosed in women. Although targeted therapies have improved patient survival for advanced BC, these tumors frequently relapse due to drug resistance mechanisms. A systems biology approach integrates DNA, RNA and protein alterations generated from multidimensional platforms to better understand the mechanisms that regulate the metastatic process. Downstream functional analyses in pre-clinical studies might integrate the role of these aberrations into the cell, leading to discovery of new therapeutic targets. In the present report, we review relevant findings associated with genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses and the contribution of the systems biology concept to the interpretation of these data in the metastatic context. Also, we highlight the importance of re-designing clinical trials towards metastasis prevention for improvement of personalized care.