title: Molecular Mechanisms and Translational Therapies for Human Epidermal Receptor 2 Positive Breast Cancer.
abstract: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer (HER2+ BC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, with poor prognosis and a high rate of recurrence. About one third of breast cancer is HER2+ BC with significantly high expression level of HER2 protein compared to other subtypes. Therefore, HER2 is an important biomarker and an ideal target for developing therapeutic strategies for the treatment HER2+ BC. In this review, HER2 structure and physiological and pathological roles in HER2+ BC are discussed. Two diagnostic tests, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), for evaluating HER2 expression levels are briefly introduced. The current mainstay targeted therapies for HER2+ BC include monoclonal antibodies, small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) and other emerging anti-HER2 agents. In clinical practice, combination therapies are commonly adopted in order to achieve synergistic drug response. This review will help to better understand the molecular mechanism of HER2+ BC and further facilitate the development of more effective therapeutic strategies against HER2+ BC.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. 15484580@life.hkbu.edu.hk.|Institute of Precision Medicine and Innovative Drug Discovery, HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Haimen 226133, China. 15484580@life.hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Quanxia
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. 15484572@life.hkbu.edu.hk.|Institute of Precision Medicine and Innovative Drug Discovery, HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Haimen 226133, China. 15484572@life.hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Ziyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. yu.yy01@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. jiangfenghz@163.com.|Institute of Precision Medicine and Innovative Drug Discovery, HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Haimen 226133, China. jiangfenghz@163.com.|The State Key Laboratory Base of Novel Functional Materials and Preparation Science, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China. jiangfenghz@163.com.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. guandg2012@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Daogang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. liangchao512@163.com.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. waynebo@163.com.
authors.forename: Junwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. aipinglu@hkbu.edu.hk.|Institute of Precision Medicine and Innovative Drug Discovery, HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Haimen 226133, China. aipinglu@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Aiping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong 999077, China. zhangge@hkbu.edu.hk.|Institute of Precision Medicine and Innovative Drug Discovery, HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Haimen 226133, China. zhangge@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases
keywords: HER2 positive breast cancer; antibody–drug conjugates; diagnostic tests; molecular mechanism; monoclonal antibodies; small molecular inhibitors; translational therapy