Aptamer: A theranostic approach towards breast cancer

Breast cancer has a heavy toll on the world's health, both in terms of morbidity and death. For women aged 35 to 54, it is the primary cause of mortality. In addition, over the preceding 2 decades, the mortality rate has not decreased noticeably. Early diagnosis and detection are still essential for enhancing patient outcomes despite substantial advancements in treatment. Also, possible to use monoclonal antibodies, but they come with a host of drawbacks, including unspecified binding, toxicity, expense, and debated clinical efficacy. Aptamers, which are small nucleic acid molecules that can bind to specific target molecules with high specificity, have instead emerged as potential theranostic treatments for breast cancer. Both for diagnosis and treatment, aptamers can be made to precisely target breast cancer cells or molecules linked to tumor progression. High binding affinity and specificity, low immunogenicity, and ease of modification are just a few of the characteristics that set aptamers apart from other delivery systems and make them desirable options for the delivery of drugs, imaging agents, or both, to breast cancer cells. In this study, we provide a comprehensive overview of the aptamer-based theranostic strategies for treating breast cancer, including aptamer selection, modifications, and imaging and drug delivery applications.

We also discussed the SELEX method for picking aptamers and why they are good breast cancer treatments. The toxicity and weak immunogenicity of some antigens do not affect aptamer selection, unlike antibodies. Compared to antibodies, they are more selective and have higher affinities. Therefore, in the future, these therapies may be used as both main therapies and adjuvants to traditional anti-HER2 therapies. We also discussed the difficulties and potential futures of theranostic approaches based on aptamers for treating breast cancer.