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Review
. 2021 Oct 31;13(21):5477.
doi: 10.3390/cancers13215477.

Molecular Biomarkers Predict Pathological Complete Response of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients: Review

Ana Julia Aguiar de Freitas  1 , Rhafaela Lima Causin  1 , Muriele Bertagna Varuzza  1 , Cassio Murilo Trovo Hidalgo Filho  2 , Vinicius Duval da Silva  3 , Cristiano de Pádua Souza  3 , Márcia Maria Chiquitelli Marques  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Molecular Biomarkers Predict Pathological Complete Response of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients: Review

Ana Julia Aguiar de Freitas et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is often used to treat locally advanced disease for tumor downstaging, thus improving the chances of breast-conserving surgery. From the NAC response, it is possible to obtain prognostic information as patients may reach a pathological complete response (pCR). Those who do might have significant advantages in terms of survival rates. Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease that requires personalized treatment strategies. The development of targeted therapies depends on identifying biomarkers that can be used to assess treatment efficacy as well as the discovery of new and more accurate therapeutic agents. With the development of new "OMICS" technologies, i.e., genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics, among others, the discovery of new biomarkers is increasingly being used in the context of clinical practice, bringing us closer to personalized management of BC treatment. The aim of this review is to compile the main biomarkers that predict pCR in BC after NAC.

Keywords: breast cancer; molecular biomarkers; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; pathological complete response.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Tumor and liquid biopsies can help identify pCR biomarkers as they can provide information at the genomic (DNA methylation and DNA mutation), transcriptomic (mRNA and miRNA expression), and proteomic (immunohistochemistry) levels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of the main pCR markers at genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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