Abstract
Most breast cancer (BC) patients have tumors that express hormone receptors (HRs). Although endocrine therapy, such as aromatase inhibitors, is very effective, most patients with metastatic HR-positive (HR+) BC become resistant to endocrine therapy at some point in their treatment and subsequently require chemotherapy. The PI3K/mTOR pathway is often upregulated in endocrine-resistant BC patients and, therefore, has been one of the targets for development of new agents. Recently, a Phase III trial (BOLERO-2) in aromatase inhibitor-resistant BC patients showed a significant improvement in time to progression with the combination of everolimus and exemestane compared with exemestane alone, confirming the importance of the PI3K/mTOR pathway in endocrine-resistant BC. Side effects from mTOR inhibitors are manageable, but early detection and proactive management are required to ensure patients' safety, compliance and continuity of treatment. Thus, mTOR inhibitors offer a new hope and promise for patients with HR+ BC.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 443-456 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Future Oncology |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2014 |
Keywords
- Aromatase inhibitor
- Breast cancer
- Endocrine resistance
- Hormone receptor
- mTOR inhibitor
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research