Surgical and Systemic Treatment of Hereditary Breast Cancer: A Mini-Review With a Focus on BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations

Athanasios Pouptsis; Leyla Swafe; Maneesha Patwardhan; Chara Stavraka

doi:10.3389/fonc.2020.553080

Surgical and Systemic Treatment of Hereditary Breast Cancer: A Mini-Review With a Focus on BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations

Front Oncol. 2020 Oct 20:10:553080. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.553080. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Athanasios Pouptsis¹, Leyla Swafe², Maneesha Patwardhan³, Chara Stavraka⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Oncology, Euromedica General Clinic of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
² Department of Surgery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Surgery, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
⁴ Department of Medical Oncology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Hereditary breast cancer accounts for 5%-10% of breast cancer cases. The majority of familial cases have been linked to germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, though other high penetrance susceptibility genes have also been identified through genomic testing advances. Optimal surgical treatment for these patients, who are of a younger age, has several challenges as it usually involves aggressive therapeutic and risk reducing interventions. At the same time, the therapeutic armamentarium for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers apart from platinum salts, has been enriched with the addition of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors with promising outcomes. In this review we provide a succinct and comprehensive overview of the surgical and systemic treatment options for patients with BRCA1/2 mutation related breast cancer and an update on the most recent systemic treatment advances.

Keywords: BRCA1; BRCA2; breast cancer; genes; hereditary; surgical management; systemic treatment.

Publication types

Review