Advances in predicting breast cancer driver mutations: Tools for precision oncology (Review)

Abstract

In the modern era of medicine, prognosis and treatment, options for a number of cancer types including breast cancer have been improved by the identification of cancer-specific biomarkers. The availability of high-throughput sequencing and analysis platforms, the growth of publicly available cancer databases and molecular and histological profiling facilitate the development of new drugs through a precision medicine approach. However, only a fraction of patients with breast cancer with few actionable mutations typically benefit from the precision medicine approach. In the present review, the current development in breast cancer driver gene identification, actionable breast cancer mutations, as well as the available therapeutic options, challenges and applications of breast precision oncology are systematically described. Breast cancer driver mutation-based precision oncology helps to screen key drivers involved in disease development and progression, drug sensitivity and the genes responsible for drug resistance. Advances in precision oncology will provide more targeted therapeutic options for patients with breast cancer, improving disease-free survival and potentially leading to significant successes in breast cancer treatment in the near future. Identification of driver mutations has allowed new targeted therapeutic approaches in combination with standard chemo- and immunotherapies in breast cancer. Developing new driver mutation identification strategies will help to define new therapeutic targets and improve the overall and disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer through efficient medicine.