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Review
. 2023 Oct 26;24(21):15625.
doi: 10.3390/ijms242115625.

Organ-Specificity of Breast Cancer Metastasis

Marina K Ibragimova  1   2   3 , Matvey M Tsyganov  1   3 , Ekaterina A Kravtsova  1   2 , Irina A Tsydenova  1   2 , Nikolai V Litviakov  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Organ-Specificity of Breast Cancer Metastasis

Marina K Ibragimova et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) remains one of the most common malignancies among women worldwide. Breast cancer shows metastatic heterogeneity with priority to different organs, which leads to differences in prognosis and response to therapy among patients. The main targets for metastasis in BC are the bone, lung, liver and brain. The molecular mechanism of BC organ-specificity is still under investigation. In recent years, the appearance of new genomic approaches has led to unprecedented changes in the understanding of breast cancer metastasis organ-specificity and has provided a new platform for the development of more effective therapeutic agents. This review summarises recent data on molecular organ-specific markers of metastasis as the basis of a possible therapeutic approach in order to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with metastatically heterogeneous breast cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer; organ-specific markers of metastasis; progression.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of metastasis to target organs depending on the molecular subtype of breast tumour. Note: subtypes are grouped into four categories based on the immunohistochemical expression of hormone receptors: oestrogen receptor positive (ER+), progesterone receptor positive (PR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor positive (HER2+) and triple-negative.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Biomarkers of organ-specificity of distant metastasis occurrence in breast cancer. Note: experimentally confirmed metastasis markers are highlighted in light blue, primary tumour metastasis markers are highlighted in light yellow.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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