The Potential Use of RNA-based Therapeutics for Breast Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most lethal cancers in women worldwide, and the development of efficient treatments faces several challenges. Breast cancer is characterized by histological and functional heterogeneity in aspects such as tumorigenesis, metastasis, and drug resistance. RNA therapy has emerged as a highly attractive class of drugs for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. It might play remarkable regulatory roles in the treatment of targeted cells by either increasing or silencing expressions of specific proteins, and such features of RNA-based drugs cause high selectivity and low risk of off-target effect in breast cancer. RNA therapy exerts anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects upon cell culture systems, animal models, and in clinical trials in most studies. In this mini-review, we outline the classifications, mechanisms, advantages, and challenges of RNA therapy and highlight its application in breast cancer treatment. Additionally, we summarize the clinical trials of RNA-targeting therapies and the development of anti-tumor RNA drugs and provide future directions for RNA therapeutics in breast cancer.

Keywords: Breast cancer; RNA interference (RNAi); RNA therapy; antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs); aptamers; clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9)..