Breast Cancer Metastasis: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Despite exciting progress in the understanding of breast cancer
\ndevelopment and progression, and in the development of novel
\ntherapeutic strategies, breast cancer remains the second leading
\ncause of cancer-related death in women, with a yearly toll of more
\nthan 40,000 deaths in the United States alone. Breast cancer–related
\ndeaths are mainly due to the “incurable” nature of metastatic
\nbreast cancer (MBC) at the current time. It is estimated that
\n∼6% of patients have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis
\nand 20% to 50% patients first diagnosed with primary breast cancer
\nwill eventually develop metastatic disease. Even with the remarkable
\nadvances in research and clinical management, the
\ncurrent treatment strategies for breast cancer metastasis still
\nlargely rely on the use of systemic cytotoxic agents, which frequently
\ndeteriorate the patient's life quality due to severe side
\neffects and, in many cases, have limited long-term success. The
\nprognosis for MBC patients is poor, with an estimated 5-year survival
\nof only 26%. Therefore, MBC remains the most challenging
\ntask facing both cancer researcher and oncologist. To tackle this
\nchallenge, scientists and physicians of the Breast Cancer Research
\nProgram at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center held a symposium to
\n(a) provide a better understanding of breast cancer metastasis at
\nthe molecular and cellular level; (b) introduce cutting-edge technologies
\nin metastatic breast cancer detection, including clinicopathologic
\ndetection, circulating tumor cells (CTC) detection, and
\nadvanced imaging; and (c) solicit innovative ideas in basic, translational
\nresearch and clinical patient management. The symposium
\nled to a positive consensus notion that we will be able to prevent,
\nand to a lesser degree, treat metastasis and ultimately save most
\npatients from metastatic deaths in the foreseeable future.