Elucidating the evolving role of cuproptosis in breast cancer progression

Breast cancer (BC) persists as a highly prevalent malignancy in females, characterized by diverse molecular signatures and necessitating personalized therapeutic approaches. The equilibrium of copper within the organism is meticulously maintained through regulated absorption, distribution, and elimination, underpinning not only cellular equilibrium but also various essential biological functions. The process of cuproptosis is initiated by copper's interaction with lipoylases within the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, which triggers the conglomeration of lipoylated proteins and diminishes the integrity of Fe-S clusters, culminating in cell demise through proteotoxic stress. In BC, aberrations in cuproptosis are prominent and represent a crucial molecular incident that contributes to the disease progression. It influences BC cell metabolism and affects critical traits such as proliferation, invasiveness, and resistance to chemotherapy. Therapeutic strategies that target cuproptosis have shown promising antitumor efficacy. Moreover, a plethora of cuproptosis-centric genes, including cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs), CRG-associated non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), and cuproptosis-associated regulators, have been identified, offering potential for the development of risk assessment models or diagnostic signatures. In this review, we provide a comprehensive exposition of the fundamental principles of cuproptosis, its influence on the malignant phenotypes of BC, the prognostic implications of cuproptosis-based markers, and the substantial prospects of exploiting cuproptosis for BC therapy, thereby laying a theoretical foundation for targeted interventions in this domain.