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Review
. 2017 Nov 15;18(11):2423.
doi: 10.3390/ijms18112423.

Novel Strategies on Personalized Medicine for Breast Cancer Treatment: An Update

Carmen W H Chan  1 , Bernard M H Law  2 , Winnie K W So  3 , Ka Ming Chow  4 , Mary M Y Waye  5
Affiliations
Review

Novel Strategies on Personalized Medicine for Breast Cancer Treatment: An Update

Carmen W H Chan et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among women worldwide. With breast cancer patients and survivors being reported to experience a repertoire of symptoms that are detrimental to their quality of life, the development of breast cancer treatment strategies that are effective with minimal side effects is therefore required. Personalized medicine, the treatment process that is tailored to the individual needs of each patient, is recently gaining increasing attention for its prospect in the development of effective cancer treatment regimens. Indeed, recent studies have identified a number of genes and molecules that may be used as biomarkers for predicting drug response and severity of common cancer-associated symptoms. These would provide useful clues not only for the determination of the optimal drug choice/dosage to be used in personalized treatment, but also for the identification of gene or molecular targets for the development of novel symptom management strategies, which ultimately would lead to the development of more personalized therapies for effective cancer treatment. In this article, recent studies that would provide potential new options for personalized therapies for breast cancer patients and survivors are reviewed. We suggest novel strategies, including the optimization of drug choice/dosage and the identification of genetic changes that are associated with cancer symptom occurrence and severity, which may help in enhancing the effectiveness and acceptability of the currently available cancer therapies.

Keywords: breast cancer; cancer treatment; personalized medicine; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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