Pathogenesis and Novel Therapeutics in Breast Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

In most industrialized countries breast cancer has become the most common form of cancer in women, with incidence rates continuing to rise. This represents an enormous challenge in diagnostics and clinical management, but also with respect to new treatment options. It is a challenge that also extends to basic science. The standards of treatment for breast cancer are now extremely high; clinical breast cancer treatment has played a pioneering role in many areas, e.g., neoadjuvant treatment, sentinel node biopsy, and breast-preserving, i.e., organ-conserving, procedures. In recent years, immunological treatment strategies, such as the use of antibodies against HER2/neu and receptor-targeted antibody strategies, have become well-established strands of breast cancer treatment.

New treatment strategies are also emerging, including CAR T-cell therapy. Furthermore, checkpoint inhibitor treatment is now regarded as an essential element in the treatment of specific breast cancer subentities, and new treatment strategies are in preparation in all areas; however, these are by no means the limits of knowledge concerning immunological treatment approaches. In fact, the link to hormonal regulation (comparisons of hormone-receptor-positive with hormone-receptor-negative carcinomas) is an amalgamation of two major control principles of the human organism, which is, as of now, not fully understood. The field of pure immunology likewise still poses many unanswered questions. This Special Issue thus aims to present further findings in the pathogenesis of breast cancer and evaluate new treatment strategies, whether immunological, hormonal, or new strategies in radio- and chemotherapy.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Würfel
Guest Editor

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