Theranostic application of extracellular vesicles in breast cancer

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are considered as cornerstones of cell-cell communication. EVs are bio-membrane naturally occurring vesicles generated by both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells to transfer myriad cargo between close and distant cells to modulate them genetically or at functional levels. Recently, attention has been attracted towards the use of EVs derived from different sources like mammalian, bacterial and plant cells for drug delivery and diagnostic applications. Although all types of EVs vary in their compositions and biogenesis, they have similar features which made them desirable and novel theranostics. Today, breast cancer is a challenging disease to humans around the world, hence, accurate and timely diagnosis and selecting the most appropriate therapeutic plan are pivotal steps forward reducing mortality. In this chapter, we have focused on unique features of EVs to be employed in the diagnosis of breast cancer because of the presence of the data inside the EVs which are related to their origin cells. Also, imaging agents can be enclosed by EVs, providing a high sensitive and reproducible imaging technique. Moreover, EVs are recruited as novel strategies to reach chemotherapeutic molecules to breast cancer in targeted drug delivery. Lastly, by discussing the pros and cons of various types of EVs as theranostics, we shed a light on the role of EVs in breast cancer and underlined the challenges that have to be overcome.