INSTIGO Trial: Evaluation of a Plasma Protein Profile as a Predictive Biomarker for Metastatic Relapse of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Global biomarker trends in triple-negative breast cancer research: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined as breast cancer that is negative for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) in cancer tissue. The lack of specific biomarkers makes the diagnosis and prognosis of TNBC challenging.

METHOD

A comprehensive literature review and bibliometric analysis was performed using CiteSpace, VOSviewer and Scimago Graphica.

RESULTS

TNBC biomarker research has been growing rapidly in recent years, reflecting the enormous academic interest in TNBC biomarker research. A total of 127 journals published relevant studies and 1749 authors were involved in the field, with developed countries such as the United States, France, and the United Kingdom contributing greatly to the field. Collaborative network analysis found that the research in this field has not yet formed good communication and interaction, and the partnership should be strengthened in the future in order to promote the in-depth development of TNBC biomarker research. A comprehensive analysis of keywords and co-cited literature, etc. found that TNBC biomarker research mainly focuses on immune checkpoint markers, microenvironment-related markers, circulating tumor DNA, metabolic markers, genomics markers and so on. These research hotspots will help to better understand the molecular characteristics and biological processes of TNBC, and provide more accurate biomarkers for its diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

The bibliometric analysis highlighted global trends and key directions in TNBC biomarker research. Future developments in TNBC biomarker research are likely to be in the direction of multi-omics integration, meticulous study of the microenvironment, targeted therapeutic biomarkers, application of liquid biopsy, application of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and individualized therapeutic strategies. Young scholars should learn and collaborate across disciplines, pay attention to new technologies and methods, improve their data analysis skills, and continue to follow up on the latest research trends in order to meet the challenges and opportunities in the field of TNBC biomarkers.

Global biomarker trends in triple-negative breast cancer research: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined as breast cancer that is negative for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) in cancer tissue. The lack of specific biomarkers makes the diagnosis and prognosis of TNBC challenging.

METHOD

A comprehensive literature review and bibliometric analysis was performed using CiteSpace, VOSviewer and Scimago Graphica.

RESULTS

TNBC biomarker research has been growing rapidly in recent years, reflecting the enormous academic interest in TNBC biomarker research. A total of 127 journals published relevant studies and 1749 authors were involved in the field, with developed countries such as the United States, France, and the United Kingdom contributing greatly to the field. Collaborative network analysis found that the research in this field has not yet formed good communication and interaction, and the partnership should be strengthened in the future in order to promote the in-depth development of TNBC biomarker research. A comprehensive analysis of keywords and co-cited literature, etc. found that TNBC biomarker research mainly focuses on immune checkpoint markers, microenvironment-related markers, circulating tumor DNA, metabolic markers, genomics markers and so on. These research hotspots will help to better understand the molecular characteristics and biological processes of TNBC, and provide more accurate biomarkers for its diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

The bibliometric analysis highlighted global trends and key directions in TNBC biomarker research. Future developments in TNBC biomarker research are likely to be in the direction of multi-omics integration, meticulous study of the microenvironment, targeted therapeutic biomarkers, application of liquid biopsy, application of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and individualized therapeutic strategies. Young scholars should learn and collaborate across disciplines, pay attention to new technologies and methods, improve their data analysis skills, and continue to follow up on the latest research trends in order to meet the challenges and opportunities in the field of TNBC biomarkers.

Circulating proteins as predictive and prognostic biomarkers in breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer and among the leading causes of cancer death in women. It is a heterogeneous group of tumours with numerous morphological and molecular subtypes, making predictions of disease evolution and patient outcomes difficult. Therefore, biomarkers are needed to help clinicians choose the best treatment for each patient. For the last years, studies have increasingly focused on biomarkers obtainable by liquid biopsy. Circulating proteins (from serum or plasma) can be used for inexpensive and minimally invasive determination of disease risk, early diagnosis, treatment adjusting, prognostication and disease progression monitoring. We provide here a review of the main published studies on serum proteins in breast cancer and elaborate on the potential of circulating proteins to be predictive and/or prognostic biomarkers in breast cancer.

Circulating proteins reveal prior use of menopausal hormonal therapy and increased risk of breast cancer

Accessible risk predictors are crucial for improving the early detection and prognosis of breast cancer. Blood samples are widely available and contain proteins that provide important information about human health and disease, however, little is still known about the contribution of circulating proteins to breast cancer risk prediction. We profiled EDTA plasma samples collected before diagnosis from the Swedish KARMA breast cancer cohort to evaluate circulating proteins as molecular predictors. A data-driven analysis strategy was applied to the molecular phenotypes built on 700 circulating proteins to identify and annotate clusters of women. The unsupervised analysis of 183 future breast cancer cases and 366 age-matched controls revealed five stable clusters with distinct proteomic plasma profiles. Among these women, those in the most stable cluster (N = 19; mean Jaccard index: 0.70 ± 0.29) were significantly more likely to have used menopausal hormonal therapy (MHT), get a breast cancer diagnosis, and were older compared to the remaining clusters. The circulating proteins associated with this cluster (FDR < 0.001) represented physiological processes related to cell junctions (F11R, CLDN15, ITGAL), DNA repair (RBBP8), cell replication (TJP3), and included proteins found in female reproductive tissue (PTCH1, ZP4). Using a data-driven approach on plasma proteomics data revealed the potential long-lasting molecular effects of menopausal hormonal therapy (MHT) on the circulating proteome, even after women had ended their treatment. This provides valuable insights concerning proteomics efforts to identify molecular markers for breast cancer risk prediction.