The Genomic Profile of Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy diagnosed during pregnancy. Strong data on the genomic profile of pregnancy-associated breast cancer are lacking. This systematic review aims to integrate and analyze all existing data from the literature regarding the genomic background and the gene mutational patterns of pregnancy-associated breast cancer. Using various genomic analysis methods, multiple differentially expressed genes and numerous non-silent mutations have been detected. More particularly, our review demonstrates the aberrant expression of several oncogenes (e.g., <i>MYC, SRC, FOS</i>), tumor suppressor genes (e.g., <i>TP53, PTEN, CAV1</i>), apoptosis regulators (e.g., <i>PDCD4, BCL2, BIRC5</i>), transcription regulators (e.g., <i>JUN, KLF1, SP110</i>), genes involved in DNA repair mechanisms (e.g., Sig20, <i>BRCA1, BRCA2, FEN1</i>), in cell proliferation (e.g., <i>AURKA, MKI67</i>), in the immune response (e.g., <i>PD1, PDL1</i>), and in other significant biological processes (e.g., protein modification, internal cell motility). Further research on the genomic profile of pregnancy-associated breast cancer is urgently required in order to identify potential biomarkers facilitating early-stage diagnosis and individualized therapy.