About this Research Topic

Background

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and remains an important global health issue after lung cancer. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease diagnosed in 1 of every 12 women globally during their lifetime. In India, it is estimated that approximately >150,000 new patients will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and ~70,000 women died from this disease in 2019. Whereas breast cancer incidence seems to be increasing in developing countries, the prevalence of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in India is reported to be higher than that observed in the Western populations. TNBC is the deadliest form of breast cancer which lacks expression of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer is a challenge due to its aggressive behavior; poor clinical outcome and likely to relapse. The heterogeneity and lack of actionable targets have been a major challenge in developing better therapies for TNBC. Though chemotherapy with taxanes remains a standard-of-care treatment option for advanced-stage TNBC patients, however, the response is often short and associated with chemo-resistance and poor prognosis with median overall survival of 9-12 months.

Natural compounds acquire a central stage in cancer treatment due to ease in availability, cost-effectiveness, little to no toxicity, multi-targeting efficacy, high potential of chemo-sensitization, and drug resistance. Therefore, a natural compound-based target-based approach either alone or in combination with standard chemotherapy is urgently needed for the effective management of this aggressive form of the disease. The Research Topic will gather up-to-date knowledge related to cutting-edge research and ideas in the scientific area of the use of natural compounds in potentially augmenting the efficacy in the treatment and management of triple-negative breast cancer.

The present Topic will focus on the following aspects of recent advancement in natural compounds in triple-negative breast cancer therapy, but are not limited to:
- Targeting metabolic pathways in TNBC by natural compounds
- Cellular aggressiveness markers and their mitigation by natural compounds
- Apoptosis induction by natural compounds
- Anti-metastatic natural compounds
- Synergizing standard chemotherapy by natural compounds
- Drug resistance reversal by natural compounds alone or in combinatorial treatment
- Cancer stemness reduction by natural compounds
- Long-non coding RNA modulation by natural compounds
- Toxicological and safety profile of natural compounds in TNBC experimental models
- Novel natural inhibitors of TNBC related molecular markers
-Identification of natural compounds to target triple-negative breast cancer using computational methods.



Note: As many anticancer drugs working as cytotoxic compounds have non-selective effects annihilating their potential therapeutic benefits, manuscripts are advised to provide evidence of a significant selectivity towards cancer cells (vs. healthy cells). Specifically, if the studied anticancer drug or modality does not target an oncogenic pathway, the authors should make every effort possible to prove that the cytotoxic or cytostatic effects they have identified exhibit selectivity for cancer cells (ideally 1 log difference in EC50 or IC50) vs. non-malignant cells (eg, fibroblasts or primary culture of cells).

The authors should also demonstrate the applicability of their anticancer modalities on a minimum of two well-authenticated cancer cell lines (ideally originating from distinct organs/tissues). The utilization of in vivo models must also be supported by such evidence.

In addition, for manuscripts dealing with plant extracts or other natural sub-stances/compounds, the composition and the stability of the study material must be described in sufficient detail. In particular, for extracts, chromato-grams with characterization of the dominating compound(s) are requested. The level of purity must be proven and included.

Keywords: Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Phytochemicals, Stem Cell, Biomarker, Drug resistance, Non-Coding RNAs

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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