Breast cancer remains a major cause of death in women in the developed world. As
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are widely expressed on
tumor cells and play important roles in the initiation and progression of
cancer, they may thus serve as important targets and have an effective perspective on
breast cancer treatment. Expression of TLRs on
breast cancer cells and mononuclear inflammatory cells can promote
inflammation and cell survival in the tumor microenvironment.
Inflammation and
cancer are related. It is well known that persistent inflammatory conditions can induce
cancer formation, due to production of
cytokines and
chemokines, which play a crucial role in promoting angiogenesis,
metastasis, and subversion of adaptive immunity. TLR signaling in
tumor cells can mediate
tumor cell immune escape and
tumor progression, and it is regarded as one of the mechanisms for chronic
inflammation in
tumorigenesis and progression. This paper delineates the expression of various TLRs in promotion of
inflammation and development of mammary
tumors. Understanding the mechanisms through which TLRs on
breast cancer cells and inflammatory cells regulate growth, survival, and metastatic progression can make them potential targets for
breast cancer therapy.