👤 Fahad A Al-Abbasi

Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent cancer in women and remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally. Its development is influenced by multiple factors, including genetics, environmental, aging, and modulation of various signaling pathways. The heterogeneity of BC together with the emergence of treatment resistance and recurrence have prompted researchers to explore and develop new therapeutic approaches. Recently, oncology research has primarily focused on the development of targeted therapies against molecular abnormalities in BC. These therapies include monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates, PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway inhibitors, CDK 4/6 inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, antiangiogenic agents, and various other targeted drugs. Immunomodulatory strategies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (anti-PD-1/PD-L1), CTLA-4 blockers, adoptive T-cell therapy, and cancer vaccines, stimulate immune response against cancer cells. Epigenetic therapies like DNMT and HDAC inhibitors have also shown promise in BC treatment. This review highlights how innovative approaches like targeting intratumoral heterogeneity, liquid biopsy for resistance mutation detection, bypass mechanisms ( Show less

Among various epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related transcription factors (TFs), altered expression levels of Snail-1, Snail-2/Slug, Twist, and ZEB1 have shown a significant association in different cancers having a higher risk of metastasis. However, their role in the circulation of endometriosis patients is not well understood. Hence, the present study was designed to evaluate the crucial role of these TFs in defining the molecular pathogenesis for endometriosis progression and differentiation from control subjects. The qualitative and quantitative expression analysis of Snail-1, Snail-2/Slug, Twist, and ZEB1 were analyzed in peripheral blood samples of 75 different stages of endometriosis patients and compared with 50 control subjects. Total RNA was extracted and converted into complementary DNA (cDNA) for relative quantification of each gene transcript using SYBRGreen-based reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The Livak method of relative quantification was used for calculating the fold change in each TF compared with endogenous control. All four selected TFs showed significantly upregulated expression levels in endometriosis patients compared with control subjects. A three-fold increase was observed for Snail-1 (p = 0.0001), and a two-fold increase was observed for Snail-2 (p = 0.01), Twist (p = 0.0002), and ZEB1 (p = 0.001) in stage III and IV compared with stage I and II of endometriosis patients. The present study revealed that EMT-related TFs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis and differentiating different stages of endometriosis patients through expression analysis of specific molecular cascades using non-invasive tools. Show less