Epidemiology, risk factors and molecular subtypes of Breast Carcinoma

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women and the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. The 5-year overall survival (OS) from BC has increased steadily in most of the developed countries. The incidence rates of BC vary worldwide, with high rates in North America, Northern and Western Europe, intermediate rates in South America and Southern Europe, and low rates in Africa and Asia. In Egypt, BC represents about 37.7% of total cancer cases among women. Gene amplification is a frequent device leading to the overexpression of oncogenes in human cancers. At present, the prognosis, classification, and treatment of BC are dependent on tumor histological grading, tumor stage, as well as 3 major protein markers: Estrogen receptor (ER), Progesterone receptor (PR) and Human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2). Despite the efforts to improve the effectiveness of the combination of surgical approach, radio-chemotherapy, endocrine-therapy, and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)-based targeted therapy, there is an immense clinical need for new therapeutic strategies and molecular targets.