Abstract
Breast cancer remains a deadly disease, even with all the recent technological advancements. Early intervention has made an impact, but an overwhelmingly large number of breast cancer patients still live under the fear of “recurrent” disease. Breast cancer recurrence is clinically a huge problem and one that is largely not well understood. Over the years, a number of factors have been studied with an overarching aim of being able to prognose recurrent disease. This paper attempts to provide an overview of our current knowledge of breast cancer recurrence and its associated challenges. Through a survey of the literature on cancer stem cells (CSCs), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), various signaling pathways such as Notch/Wnt/hedgehog, and microRNAs (miRNAs), we also examine the hypotheses that are currently under investigation for the prevention of breast cancer recurrence.
Highlights
Breast cancer is a major health problem that affects the lives of millions
This has included studies in various breast cancer subtypes wherein breast cancers are characterized by the presence of receptors such as estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2/ErbB2 receptor (HER2) or by the absence of all of them, the triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs)
A role of Notch3 in cancer stem cells (CSCs) quiescence has been suggested [97] which might be relevant to tumor recurrence because, as discussed previously, quiescence happens to be one of the mechanisms through which CSCs evade the cytotoxic effects of anticancer drugs and radiation therapy
Summary
Breast cancer is a major health problem that affects the lives of millions. For the year 2012, it was estimated that 226,870 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and that 39,510 women will succumb to it [1, 2]. It is generally recognized that much scientific advancements have been made in the area of breast cancer research, and it is because of these efforts that the chances of disease-free survival of breast cancer survivors have increased tremendously over the last few decades This applies only if the breast cancer is diagnosed at an early stage and is limited to the primary organ. The advanced stage breast cancers are broadly characterized by one or both of these—metastases and drug resistance Metastases to organs such as lungs, bones, brain, and liver severely limit the option of surgical intervention and suffer from the lack of targeted therapies. Drug resistance is another challenge that is clinically very relevant. This phenomenon is “tumor recurrence” and the subject of our discussion here
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
