EditorialDiagnostic, Prognostic, and Predictive Biomarkers inBreast Cancer

Chia-Jung Li ,1,2 Hui-Ming Chen,3 and Ji-Ching Lai 4

1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan2Institute of BioPharmaceutical Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan3Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA4Department of Medical Research and Development, Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan

Correspondence should be addressed to Ji-Ching Lai; jichinglai@gmail.com

Received 17 February 2020; Accepted 17 February 2020; Published 9 March 2020

Copyright © 2020 Chia-Jung Li et al. $is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer typeand the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths amongwomen worldwide. $e causes of breast cancer are not yetfully known, although a number of risk factors have beenidentified. Tumor biomarker is a term used to describepotential markers of cancer development and progression.As we explore these biomarkers further, we must try tounderstand the underlying mechanisms of tumor develop-ment, as we move along the path to discovery of noveltherapies that will increase our ability to offer personalizedpatient care in the future. With the migration of advancedhigh throughput technologies, such as Next GenerationSequencing from clinical practice, biomarker research anddiscovery are poised to explode once again. Translation ofnovel biomarkers into clinical practice and diagnostic lab-oratories is coupled with regulatory and administrativerequirements that must be met, while collaboration betweenresearch institutions, industry, and the private sector drivesfurther advancements in the field of breast cancer biomarkerdiscovery and application.

$e aim of this special issue is to provide new findingsregarding molecular pathways and biomarkers that couldimprove the diagnosis and the prognostic classification ofbreast cancers, their application in the clinical setting, andtheir potential utility in personalized patient therapy. $etotal of submissions is 50. After single-blind peer review byat least two reviewers, 14 papers were finally accepted to bepublished. $e accepted rate is 28%. $e average number ofauthors for each accepted paper is 7. $e affiliated institutes

of the authors are from Brazil, China, Italy, Iraq, Jordan,Portugal, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the UK, and the USA.$ese accepted papers can be organized in different groups.$e focus of the first group of articles is on prognosis andtherapy in breast cancer. $e findings of the paper titled“Exploring the Role of Breast Density on Cancer Prognosisamong Women Attending Population-Based ScreeningProgrammes” by Domingo et al. reveal that increased breastdensity was associated with worse survival outcomes amongwomen participating in breast cancer screening. $e papertitled “Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform In-frared (ATR-FTIR) Spectroscopy Analysis of Saliva forBreast Cancer Diagnosis” by Ferreira et al. showed ATR-FTIR spectroscopy can be used in saliva samples to dis-criminate breast cancer patients from benign patients andhealthy subjects. $e paper titled “Dovitinib Triggers Ap-optosis and Autophagic Cell Death by Targeting SHP-1/p-STAT3 Signaling in Human Breast Cancers” by Chiu et al.has provided the evidence for anticancer effect of dovitinibto suggest it as a potential target for breast cancer therapy.$e focus of the second group of articles is on biomarkers inbreast cancer.$e paper titled “A Novel Role for Cathepsin Sas a Potential Biomarker in Triple Negative Breast Cancer”by Wilkinson et al. investigated the expression profile ofCathepsin S in breast cancer patients. $e paper titled“Identification of Cell-Free Circulating MicroRNAs for theDetection of Early Breast Cancer and Molecular Subtyping”by Souza et al. identified the molecular signature miRNA asnoninvasive biomarkers in patients with breast cancer. $e

HindawiJournal of OncologyVolume 2020, Article ID 1835691, 2 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2020/1835691

paper titled “CD133 in Breast Cancer Cells: More $an aStem Cell Marker” by Brugnoli et al. reviewed the value ofCD133 as prognostic factor of malignant progression ofbreast cancer. $e other four papers titled “N-Acetyl-transferase 1 Knockout Elevates Acetyl Coenzyme A Levelsand Reduces Anchorage-Independent Growth in HumanBreast Cancer Cell Lines” by Stepp et al., “Overexpression ofKynurenine 3-Monooxygenase Correlates with CancerMalignancy and Predicts Poor Prognosis in Canine Mam-mary Gland Tumors” by Chiu et al., “Notch Signaling Ac-tivation as a Hallmark for Triple Negative Breast CancerSubtype” by Giuli et al., and “Human Mitotic Centromere-Associated Kinesin is Targeted by MicroRNA 485-5p/181cand Prognosticates Poor Survivability of Breast Cancer” byLu et al. contributed different biomarkers of breast cancerwhich may help to assess prognosis or predictive indicators.$e focus of the third group of articles is on genetic mu-tations in breast cancer. $e paper titled “Association ofESR1 Mutations and Visceral Metastasis in Patients withEstrogen Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer fromBrazil” by Reinert et al. observed an association of ESR1mutations with metastasis. $e paper titled “Role of FourABC Transporter Genes in Pharmacogenetic Susceptibilityto Breast Cancer in Jordanian Patients” by AL-Eitan et al.proposed the ABCB1mutation associated with breast cancerin Jordanian Arabs. $e paper titled “A Review of theHereditary Component of Triple Negative Breast Cancer:High- and Moderate-Penetrance Breast Cancer Genes, Low-Penetrance Loci and the Role of Nontraditional GeneticElements” by Ellsworth et al. described genes and geneticelements, which have been associated with increased risk oftriple negative breast cancer. $e paper titled “PregnancyHypertension and a Commonly Inherited IGF1R Variant(rs2016347) Reduce Breast Cancer Risk by EnhancingMammary Gland Involution” by Powell et al. observed thatstatistically significant decrease in terminal duct lobular unitcounts signifies increased breast epithelial involution inwomen with prior hypertension who inherited the TT ge-notype of IGF1R SNP (rs2016347).

In summary, the research papers cover a wide range ofapplications including potential diagnostics, predictions,and treatment. Furthermore, this special issue also includesregional genetic mutation, breast density on cancer prog-nosis, small RNA as a biomarker, surface marker of cancerstem cells, potential marker of cancer metastasis, andspectroscopy predicting the rate of cancer. $is may behelpful in assessing prognostic or predictive indicators, aswell as developing new therapies and new insights aimed atimproving breast cancer.

Conflicts of Interest

$e authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Chia-Jung LiHui-Ming Chen

Ji-Ching Lai

2 Journal of Oncology