Noninvasive Biomarkers: Emerging Trends in Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the leading mortality among women throughout the globe. Screening of breast cancer and early detection aids better prognosis and successful therapeutic upshots. Currently, the mammography is the only method used for the diagnosis as the gold standard offers effective revenue, limits to its effectiveness, accuracy, overdiagnosis and its inability to detect small-scaled cancers, mainly in female with high density breast tissues, remains a foremost problem in breast oncology. Hence, it is an unmet clinical need to recognize convenient noninvasive biomarkers from an easily approachable source that could overcome the shortcomings of mammography. Promising biomarkers using epigenetic approach just like miRNAs, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating cell-free DNAs or RNAs, lipids, proteins, volatile organic compounds as well as biomarkers from tears, nipple aspirate fluid (NAF), sweat, and urine have shown great potential to detect BC at pre-invasive stages. In addition, there is a superior requirement of mutational signature for individualized treatments; the high-penetrance molecular biomarkers including TP53, BRCA1, BRCA2 are risk alleles for the breast cancer progression. The current chapter would focus on the recent discoveries aimed to harnessing novel molecular biomarkers for the early detection of BC biomarkers as well as the therapeutic implications that need to be overcome.