Hipoxia and breast cancer

a future possibility as targeted therapy

Abstract

Objective: The authors discuss the role of hypoxia as cause and consequence of breast carcinogenesis and emphasize a protein’s function, hypoxia inducible factor type 1 alpha (HIF-1α), as a prognostic marker and initial studies in target therapy regarding the utilization of HIF-1α inhibitors. Methods: Bibliographic review of the literature. Results and Conclusion: HIF-1α is an important worse prognostic factor in initial and locally advanced tumors and that it is associated with diverse variables, such as axillary status and Her-2 positivity. However, there are fewer researches analyzing its efficacy as a predictive factor.