A Review on Breast Cancer: A Global Risk Factor and Preventive Measures

Abstract

Incidence and Epidemiology of Breast CancerBreast cancer is a significant health concern for women due to its high rates of mortality and morbidity. Even with the implementation of adjuvant chemotherapy, the five-year survival rate for metastatic breast cancer is below 30%. According to recent data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, collected across 185 countries in the GLOBOCAN 2020 report, there were 2.3 million new cases (11.7% of all cancer cases) of breast cancer, with a mortality rate of 6.9% [1-3]. The incidence of breast cancer is more prevalent in high-income countries (571 cases per 100,000 individuals) compared to low-income countries (95 cases per 10,000 individuals), a trend that is associated with globalization. Breast cancer is widely recognized as a heterogeneous disease with over 100 different biological subtypes, each exhibiting unique molecular profiles and clinicopathological features. In addition to the various histological subtypes, gene expression profiling has further categorized breast cancer into distinct molecular subtypes, including receptor-positive subtypes (Luminal A, Luminal B, Normal-like, and HER-2 positive) and receptor-negative subtypes (Triple-negative breast cancer or Basal-like) [4].Lehmann et al. have also identified different groups within the triple-negative breast cancer subtypes based on the expression of specific genes, such as Basal-like-1, Basal-like-2, Immunomodulatory, Mesen-