Fig. 3
General timeline for redefining breast cancer molecular subtypes. The subtypes of breast cancer can be divided into two groups, namely unsupervised-clustering-based molecular subtypes and therapeutic-purpose-relative subtypes. a Perou et al. firstly proposed the concept of molecular typing of breast cancer in 2000 by using DNA microarrays representing >8000 genes. b Parker et al. constructed PAM50 subtypes in 2009, which was a simplified version of the “intrinsic” subtypes. c In 2012, Christina et al. offered an integration of the genome and transcriptome from representative patients, which provided a novel molecular stratification of the breast cancer population. d Bernard et al. identified ten subtypes of breast cancer from the landscape of mutations, driver copy number aberrations. e Unsupervised proteogenomics identified four molecular subtypes underscore the potential of proteomics for clinical investigation in 2020. f In 2021, another update called single-cell method of intrinsic subtype stratified the complex cellular ecosystems into nine clusters. g IHC-based subtype was the first therapeutic-purpose-relative subtype raised in 2011. h An alternative subtype was constructed in 2022 according to various regimens redefined and supported the usage of response-based subtypes to guide future treatment prioritization. i Reclassifications of the specific subtypes include Vanderbilt TNBC subtypes in 2011, Vanderbilt redefining TNBC subtypes in 2015, FUSCC TNBC subtypes in 2019 and FUSCC HR+/HER2− subtypes in 2023. IHC immunohistochemistry, TNBC triple-negative breast cancer, FUSCC Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, HR hormone receptor, HER2 human epidermal growth factor receptor-2. The figure was created with Biorender.com
