Treatments Targeting the Androgen Receptor and Its Splice Variants in Breast Cancer.
Amy H TienMarianne D SadarPublished in: International journal of molecular sciences (2024)
Breast cancer is a major cause of death worldwide. The complexity of endocrine regulation in breast cancer may allow the cancer cells to escape from a particular treatment and result in resistant and aggressive disease. These breast cancers usually have fewer treatment options. Targeted therapies for cancer patients may offer fewer adverse side effects because of specificity compared to conventional chemotherapy. Signaling pathways of nuclear receptors, such as the estrogen receptor (ER), have been intensively studied and used as therapeutic targets. Recently, the role of the androgen receptor (AR) in breast cancer is gaining greater attention as a therapeutic target and as a prognostic biomarker. The expression of constitutively active truncated AR splice variants in breast cancer is a possible mechanism contributing to treatment resistance. Therefore, targeting both the full-length AR and AR variants, either through the activation or suppression of AR function, depending on the status of the ER, progesterone receptor, or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, may provide additional treatment options. Studies targeting AR in combination with other treatment strategies are ongoing in clinical trials. The determination of the status of nuclear receptors to classify and identify patient subgroups will facilitate optimized and targeted combination therapies.
Keyphrases
- estrogen receptor
- epidermal growth factor receptor
- clinical trial
- cancer therapy
- copy number
- signaling pathway
- randomized controlled trial
- gene expression
- squamous cell carcinoma
- cell proliferation
- oxidative stress
- radiation therapy
- binding protein
- working memory
- breast cancer cells
- endoplasmic reticulum
- locally advanced
- dna methylation
- high resolution
- electronic health record
- double blind
- tandem mass spectrometry