Table 1.

Examples of potential therapeutic targets in the ECM of breast cancer.

Target	Therapeutic agent	Type	Effects on breast cancer	Ref.
HAS2, CD44	4-MU	Small molecule inhibitor	Inhibiting hyaluronic acid synthesis, regulating HAS2, CD44, matrix degrading enzymes, and inflammatory mediators	(93)
Robo1	R5	Neutralizing antibody	Significantly inhibited BC growth and metastasis MMTV-PyMT transgenic mouse model and xenografted breast cancer model	(91)
EphA2	CD44 exon V10	DNA aptamers	Significantly inhibited BC cell migration	(92)
MMP-2	MMPIs	Remodeling enzyme inhibitor	Specifically inhibited MMP-2 and prevent breast tumor growth and associated bone destruction	(94)
Heparanase	9E8, H1023	Monoclonal antibody	Significantly inhibited cell invasion and tumor metastasis, no significant cytotoxicity to BC cells	(95)
Zinc transporter LIV-1	SGM-LIV1A	Blocking antibody	SGN-LIV1A displays specific in vitro cytotoxic activity against LIV-1-expressing cancer cells; in vitro results are recapitulated in vivo with antitumor activity in animal models	(96)
(VCP)/p97	NPD8733	Small molecule inhibitor	NPD8733 silenced VCP expression in NIH3T3 fibroblasts and reduced the migration of the co-cultured NIH3T3 fibroblasts	(97)
Src/FAK	Lycorine	Small molecule inhibitor	Inhibited tumor growth in a breast cancer xenograft model and inhibited breast cancer metastasis in the MDA-MB-231 caudal vein model	(98)
TAMs	Endostatin	Recombinant peptide	Indicate the mouse breast cancer growth in vivo by regulating the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages	(99)
Endostatin	rh-Endostatin	Recombinant peptide	Chemotherapy combined with rh-endostatin is more effective than chemotherapy alone and is considered a promising breast cancer treatment strategy	(100)

HAS2, Hyaluronan synthase 2; 4-MU: 4-methylumbelliferone; EphA2, Erythrogenic human hepatocytes A; MMP-2, matrix metalloproteinase-2; MMPIs, MMP inhibitors; VCP, valosin-containing protein; Src/FAK, Src-focal adhesion kinase; TAM, tumor-associated macrophage; BC, breast cancer.