QIMR Berghofer

Mechanisms of Genomic Instability in Breast Cancer.

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women globally. Genomic instability (GI) refers to the increased tendency to accrue genomic alterations. It drives heterogeneity and is a hallmark of cancer. Genomic integrity is closely guarded by several mechanisms, including DNA damage checkpoints, the DNA repair machinery, and the mitotic checkpoint. Alterations in these surveillance mechanisms cause GI. In breast cancer, several pathways maintaining genomic integrity are distinctly altered, including some that have been successfully exploited for therapeutic targeting. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the recent advances on the mechanisms of GI in breast cancer, highlighting DNA repair defects and chromosome segregation errors during mitosis. We further review the clinical implications and therapeutic potential of targeting GI in the era of precision medicine.

Authors Duijf, Pascal H G; Nanayakkara, Devathri; Nones, Katia; Srihari, Sriganesh; Kalimutho, Murugan; Khanna, Kum Kum
Journal TRENDS IN MOLECULAR MEDICINE
Pages 595-611
Volume 25
Date 1/05/2019
Grant ID
Funding Body Cancer Council Queensland
URL http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=10.1016/j.molmed.2019.04.004