MicroRNA therapeutics in breast cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most common diagnosed human cancers in women. Surgery of the primary tumor is the treatment of choice in localized stages with the aim of curative chances. Although several patients are cured by this treatment modality, some of them develop metastatic disease or are diagnosed with primary metastatic breast cancer. Once metastasized, breast cancer represents an incurable disease in all patients. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease in terms of biology, treatment success and patients prognosis. The triple negative breast cancer subtype, which is defined by the lack of three (estrogen, progesterone and HER2) immunohistochemical detectable receptors, is the most aggressive subtype. Unfortunately, this subtype is frequently found in young women and more or less cytotoxic chemotherapy is the mainstay of therapeutic intervention. Therefore, the identification of the molecular mechanisms that drive and maintain metastatic triple negative breast cancer might enable a better understanding of the pathogenesis, a better risk- stratification of patients with localized disease and the identification of novel drug targets. The central hypothesis of this Hertha Firnberg research proposal is to determine the role of miRNAs in triple negative breast cancer and discover novel therapeutic vulnerabilities. To achieve this, we will use a three-aimed strategy. The final results of the described tasks will reveal new factors and new targets for miRNA-based drug therapy.