Molecular Targets for Treatment of Breast Cancer

Woo-Chan Park; Lee Su Kim; Tae Hyun Kim; Byeong-Woo Park; Ho Yong Park; Byung Joo Song; Jae Bok Lee; Chang Wan Jeon; Un-Jong Choi

doi:10.4048/jbc.2009.12.4.229

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Park, Kim, Kim, Park, Park, Song, Lee, Jeon, and Choi: Molecular Targets for Treatment of Breast Cancer

Review Article

Journal of Breast Cancer

Journal of Breast Cancer 2009; 12(4): 229-234.

Published online: 31 December 2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2009.12.4.229

Molecular Targets for Treatment of Breast Cancer

Woo-Chan Park^1,⁹, Lee Su Kim^2,⁹, Tae Hyun Kim^3,⁹, Byeong-Woo Park^4,⁹, Ho Yong Park^5,⁹, Byung Joo Song^1,⁹, Jae Bok Lee^6,⁹, Chang Wan Jeon^7,⁹, Un-Jong Choi^8,⁹

¹Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

²Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Seoul, Korea.

³Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, Korea.

⁴Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.

⁵Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.

⁶Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

⁷Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Kosin Unversity, Busan, Korea.

⁸Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea.

⁹Target Molecule Study Group of Korean Breast Cancer Society, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author (wcpark@catholic.ac.kr)

Received 12 October 2009 Accepted 23 November 2009

Abstract

Advances in molecular biology have made it possible to understand the tumor biology of breast cancer at the molecular level and have revealed molecular targets for the therapy of breast cancer. Nowadays, targeting agents are used as mono-therapy or as combined therapy with other anti-cancer drugs for the treatment of breast cancer. Much more efforts is also being made in the development of better therapeutic agents targeting molecules having an important role in tumor biology. In this article, promising molecules for targeted therapy are reviewed for their roles in the pathophysiology and the treatment of breast cancer. We also introduce and summarize new preclinical agents, developed or on developing, with preliminary results from clinical trials. Given the progress currently being made, targeted therapy could become a main strategy for the treatment of breast cancer in the near future.

Keywords: Breast neoplasms, Therapy, Targeting agent

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