In the Philippines, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women. The country has one of the highest breast cancer mortality rates and the lowest mortality-to-incidence ratio in Asia (Wu & Le, 2018). According to the Philippine Statistics of Authority and the Department of Health, 3 in every 10 Filipina women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells grow out of control which can lead to the development of tumors. It can metastasize in the body and become fatal if left unchecked. In managing breast cancer, it is usually specific on the person, the type of cancer and its spread. 

Approximately 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary. Inherited high penetrance gene mutations are known to increase breast cancer risk. The most well-known mutations affecting breast cancer risk are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, although relatively rare it can significantly increase the risk of developing breast cancer and other types of cancers.  Breast cancer risk factors are also significantly related to lifestyle, such as diet and physical activity. Increase risk of breast cancer can be linked to alcohol drinking, being overweight and obese after menopause, physical inactivity, nulliparity, not breastfeeding, intake of hormonal birth control pills, and certain use of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) with estrogen (American Cancer Society, 2022).

Some progress has been made in the management and drug research of breast cancer but there still no known current best treatment for it and the recurrence and death of patients are still not effectively controlled which can be attributed to the general lack of understanding of the pathogenesis of this complex disease. Over the last few years, studying the pathogenesis of the disease has now incorporated immunology, molecular biology and genomics technology, as well as bioinformatics. Moreover, identification of valuable biomarkers has become a research focus (Zhang, 2022).