DNA repair and damage pathways in breast cancer development and therapy

DNA damage/repair constitutes several key pathways working in concert to eliminate DNA lesions and maintain genome stability and integrity. Defective components in DNA damage and repair machinery are an underlying cause for the development and progression of different types of cancers, and breast cancer is no exception. In this paper, we will briefly explain the importance of DNA damage and repair, introduce the current classification schemes for breast cancer, and review the known defects in the repair machinery that have been associated with the risk of breast cancer. Finally, we discuss how the understanding of these pathways can help to design therapeutics for specific targeting of breast cancer tumors.