MicroRNAs as a clue to overcome breast cancer treatment resistance

• Published in: Cancer and metastasis reviews Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 77 - 105
• Main Authors: Garrido-Cano, Iris, Pattanayak, Birlipta, Adam-Artigues, Anna, Lameirinhas, Ana, Torres-Ruiz, Sandra, Tormo, Eduardo, Cervera, Raimundo, Eroles, Pilar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Cancer; Cancer Research; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Cell cycle; Development and progression; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm - genetics; Drug therapy; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition - genetics; Female; Fulvestrant; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Health aspects; Humans; Mesenchyme; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; miRNA; Oncology; Phenotypes; Quality of Life; Signal transduction; Resistance; Breast; MicroRNAs; Cancer
• ISSN: 0167-7659; 1573-7233
• DOI: 10.1007/s10555-021-09992-0

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women worldwide. Despite the improvement in diagnosis and treatments, the rates of cancer relapse and resistance to therapies remain higher than desirable. Alterations in microRNAs have been linked to changes in critical processes related to cancer development and progression. Their involvement in resistance or sensitivity to breast cancer treatments has been documented by different in vivo and in vitro experiments. The most significant microRNAs implicated in modulating resistance to breast cancer therapies are summarized in this review. Resistance to therapy has been linked to cellular processes such as cell cycle, apoptosis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, stemness phenotype, or receptor signaling pathways, and the role of microRNAs in their regulation has already been described. The modulation of specific microRNAs may modify treatment response and improve survival rates and cancer patients’ quality of life. As a result, a greater understanding of microRNAs, their targets, and the signaling pathways through which they act is needed. This information could be useful to design new therapeutic strategies, to reduce resistance to the available treatments, and to open the door to possible new clinical approaches.