The Role of Toll-Like Receptors in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is highly prevalent worldwide. Treatment of this disease is a major global public health problem; therefore, numerous studies have explored new molecular profile helping for breast cancer therapy. Different risk factors are attributed to breast cancer; however, chronic inflammation and immune regulation are highly essential. Various molecules impact this context, including toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are mainly expressed on the membrane of different immune cells and trigger pro-inflammatory responses. Of note, expressing these receptors, as well as inhibiting their functions lead to different and remarkable results in patients with breast cancer. More specifically, TLRs can induce the apoptosis of cancerous cells, expression of adhesion molecules, metastasis, and cytokine profile change. Therefore, evaluating new therapies and various factors, including demographic characteristics, nutrition, colonized microbial flora, and immune regulatory molecules in breast cancer patients is essential. Such information helps to improve our understanding of this disease and assists scientists to find effective therapies in the future. The content of this article is a review of 128 articles, published in prestigious international journals. Search in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct were conducted using keyword combinations of “Breast cancer and Toll-like receptor”. This review article is an overview of the role of TLRs in the treatment and progression of breast cancer. According to various research studies, TLRs can significantly affect the progression, metastasis, and treatment of breast cancer.