Breast cancer progression to other organs

Abstract

Breast cancer has become very common among women and is the major cause of morbidity. The progression of breast cancer and the formation of secondary tumors in other organs is of major concern. Relapse and recurrence of breast cancer worsen the situation. Multiple genes get altered facilitating metastasis of cancer and downregulation/upregulation of many genes causes variations in molecular expression leading to progression in breast cancer cells. Mainly subtypes of breast cancer are distinct in the expression of hormone receptors (HR) and other proteins like ER, PR, HER2. Breast cancer can invade distant organs commonly in the bone, brain, lung, liver, and also the local region like the chest wall, and lymph nodes. Understanding the mechanism of cancer progression and molecules involved in breast cancer will help in developing therapies to prevent metastasis and find cures for breast cancer. In this review, the biomolecules such as ER, PR, HER2, etc. and the genes involved in breast cancer during its progression, and the mechanisms involved in metastasis have been discussed.