scholarly journals Breast Cancer Brain Metastasis—Overview of Disease State, Treatment Options and Future Perspectives

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1078
Author(s):  
Chikashi Watase ◽  
Sho Shiino ◽  
Tatsunori Shimoi ◽  
Emi Noguchi ◽  
Tomoya Kaneda ◽  
...  

Breast cancer is the second most common origin of brain metastasis after lung cancer. Brain metastasis in breast cancer is commonly found in patients with advanced course disease and has a poor prognosis because the blood–brain barrier is thought to be a major obstacle to the delivery of many drugs in the central nervous system. Therefore, local treatments including surgery, stereotactic radiation therapy, and whole-brain radiation therapy are currently considered the gold standard treatments. Meanwhile, new targeted therapies based on subtype have recently been developed. Some drugs can exceed the blood–brain barrier and enter the central nervous system. New technology for early detection and personalized medicine for metastasis are warranted. In this review, we summarize the historical overview of treatment with a focus on local treatment, the latest drug treatment strategies, and future perspectives using novel therapeutic agents for breast cancer patients with brain metastasis, including ongoing clinical trials.

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Širochmanová ◽  
Ľ. Čomor ◽  
E. Káňová ◽  
I. Jiménez-Munguía ◽  
Z. Tkáčová ◽  
...  

Abstract The presence of a blood-brain barrier (BBB) and a blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier presents animmense challenge for effective delivery of therapeutics to the central nervous system. Many potential drugs, which are effective at their site of action, have failed due to the lack of distribution in sufficient quantity to the central nervous system (CNS). In consequence, many diseases of the central nervous system remain undertreated. Antibodies, IgG for example, are difficult to deliver to the CNS due to their size (~155 kDa), physico-chemical properties and the presence of Fc receptor on the blood-brain barrier. Smaller antibodies, like the recently developed nanobodies, may overcome the obstacle of the BBB and enter into the CNS. The nanobodies are the smallest available antigen-binding fragments harbouring the full antigenbinding capacity of conventional antibodies. They represent a new generation of therapeutics with exceptional properties, such as: recognition of unique epitopes, target specificity, high affinity, high solubility, high stability and high expression yields in cost-effective recombinant production. Their ability to permeate across the BBBmakes thema promising alternative for central nervous system disease therapeutics. In this review, we have systematically presented different aspects of the BBB, drug delivery mechanisms employed to cross the BBB, and finally nanobodies — a potential therapeutic molecule against neuroinfections.


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