Open Access

REVIEW

circRNAs in drug resistance of breast cancer

SEMA MISIR^1,*, SERAP OZER YAMAN², NINA PETROVIĆ^3,4, CEREN SUMER⁵, CEYLAN HEPOKUR¹, YUKSEL ALIYAZICIOGLU²

1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, 58010, Turkey
2 Department of Medical Biochemistry, Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine, Trabzon, 61000, Turkey
3 Laboratory for Radiobiology and Molecular genetics, “VINČA” Institute of Nuclear Sciences-National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia
4 Department of Experimental Oncology, Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia
5 Comprehensive Cancer Center, Faculty of Life Science & Medicine, King’s College London, London, SE11UL, United Kingdom

* Corresponding Author: Sema Misir,

Oncology Research 2022, 30(4), 157-172. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2022.027547

Received 03 November 2022; Accepted 28 December 2022; Issue published 31 January 2023

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common heterogeneous disease in women and one of the leading causes of cancer-related death. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone, and targeted therapy are the gold standards for BC treatment. One of the significant challenges during the treatment of BC represents resistance to chemotherapeutics, resistance that severely limits the use and effectiveness of the drugs used for BC treatment. Therefore, it is essential to develop new strategies to improve therapeutic efficacy. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a large group of non-coding RNAs that covalently form closed circular loops by joining their 5′, and 3′; ends. Accumulating evidence suggests that circRNAs have a vital role in cancer development, progression, and BC resistance to chemotherapy. The purpose of this review is to discuss the biological properties of circRNAs, and how circRNAs induce resistance to conventional therapeutic anti-cancer drugs used in BC treatment, by emphasizing and summarizing the potential roles of circRNAs in mechanisms of drug resistance, such as drug efflux, apoptosis dysfunction, autophagy, and DNA damage repair. CircRNAs are associated with drug resistance via ATP-binding cassette (ABC) efflux transporters, while some others by inhibition of cell apoptosis, thus leading to resistance to tamoxifen in BC cells. In contrast, others are involved in the promotion of BC cells chemoresistance by doxorubicininduced autophagy. CircRNAs may have clinical significance in regulating or overcoming BC drug resistance and may give directions towards a novel approach to personalized BC treatment. CircRNAs may significantly contribute to the identification of new therapeutic targets for the prevention of BC chemoresistance.

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