Epigenetic Therapies in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Concepts, Visions, and Challenges

Breast cancer, the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide, is a molecularly and clinically very heterogeneous disease. Triple-negative breast cancer is defined by the absence of hormone receptor and growth factor receptor ERBB2/HER2 expression. It is characterized by a more aggressive course of...

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Published inCancers Vol. 16; no. 12; p. 2164
Main Author Lehmann, Ulrich
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 07.06.2024
MDPI
Subjects
Breast cancer
Care and treatment
Cells
Clinical trials
Cytosine
Development and progression
DNA
DNA methylation
DNA sequencing
Enzymes
Epigenetic inheritance
Epigenetics
ErbB-2 protein
Gene expression
Genes
Genetic engineering
Health aspects
Histones
Malignancy
Methylation
Molecular modelling
Nucleotide sequence
Nucleotide sequencing
Proteins
Review
DNA methylation
targeted therapy
triple-negative breast cancer
histone modification
epigenetics
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Summary:Breast cancer, the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide, is a molecularly and clinically very heterogeneous disease. Triple-negative breast cancer is defined by the absence of hormone receptor and growth factor receptor ERBB2/HER2 expression. It is characterized by a more aggressive course of disease and a shortage of effective therapeutic approaches. Hallmarks of cancer cells are not only genetic alterations, but also epigenetic aberrations. The most studied and best understood alterations are methylation of the DNA base cytosine and the covalent modification of histone proteins. The reversibility of these covalent modifications make them attractive targets for therapeutic intervention, as documented in numerous ongoing clinical trials. Epidrugs, targeting DNA methylation and histone modifications, might offer attractive new options in treating triple-negative breast cancer. Currently, the most promising options are combination therapies in which the epidrug increases the efficiency of immuncheckpoint inhibitors. This review focusses exclusively on DNA methylation and histone modifications. In reviewing the knowledge about epigenetic therapies in breast cancer, and especially triple-negative breast cancer, the focus is on explaining concepts and raising awareness of what is not yet known and what has to be clarified in the future.
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ISSN:2072-6694
2072-6694
DOI:10.3390/cancers16122164