Proteinases as Biomarkers in Breast Cancer Prognosis and Diagnosis

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the Western World.

Upon diagnosis and treatment in the preinvasive state, the five years survival rate levitate up to 93%, making early detection crucial for dedicative diagnosis and treatment. Currently, mammography is the most efficacious diagnostic modality. However, this technique does not match the ultimate sensitivity. Other routinely used biomarkers include tumor size, histological type, nuclear and cellular characteristics, mitotic index, vascular invasion, hormonal and axillary lymph node status were not good enough to predict the course of cancer. To date, researchers revealed a change in the level of some proteinases in breast cancer tissue and reported the role of these proteinases in tumor aggressiveness and patient response to therapy.

This review summarizes the potential role of serine proteinases (including urokinasedependent plasminogen activator and kallikreins) and zinc metalloproteinases (including matrix metalloproteinase and A disintegrin and metalloproteinase) as either a prognostic and/or diagnostic breast cancer biomarkers. These proteinases plus genetic biomarkers could be implemented in the development of multiplex bio sensing platform toward early breast cancer detection, diagnosis, monitor progression and therapeutic success.