ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Breast cancer is a multifactorial disease. Several hereditary (germline) and acquired (somatic) genetic alterations are known to induce genomic instability, resulting in a disbalance between cell proliferation and cell death, and ultimately in tumor growth development and progression. In addition to hereditary predisposition, endocrine and environmental factors (nutrition, carcinogens, lifestyle, radiation, and viruses) are other important causative factors of breast cancer. In addition, there is an interaction between hereditary, reproductive, and environmental factors. In the process of tumor growth and progression (invasion, metastasis, and neoangiogenesis) a large number of hormones, growth factors, receptors, signal transduction pathways, and proteases are involved, forming valuable targets for new (molecular) biological therapies.
