Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent and deadliest cancers among women in the world because of its aggressive behavior and inadequate response to conventional therapies. Cellular and gene therapies based on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent promising treatment strategies for multiple diseases, such as cancers. MSCs are multipotent adult stem cells with important features for cell therapy, such as tissue homing to injured sites, their differentiation potential, their capacity of secreting plenty of trophic factors, and low immunogenicity. The quite easy isolation of these cells from various types of tissues are associated with no ethical concern when dealing with fetal or embryonic stem cells. The MSCs exhibit both pro and anti-oncogenic properties. However, genetic engineering of MSCs and nanoparticles is being employed as a means to solve some of these problems and improve the antitumor properties of these cells. The tumor-homing ability of MSCs and their exosomes to tumor niches have made them as a promising vector for targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to tumors site. The present study investigated MSCs specifications, pro- and anti-oncogenic properties of MSCs in breast cancer, and reviewed targeted breast cancer therapy via engineered MSCs, likely as potent cellular vehicles.

乳腺癌由于其侵略性行为和对常规疗法的反应不足，是世界上女性中最普遍和最致命的癌症之一。基于间充质干细胞（MSC）的细胞和基因疗法代表了多种疾病（例如癌症）的有前途的治疗策略。MSC是多能干细胞，具有细胞治疗的重要功能，例如组织归巢至受伤部位，分化潜能，分泌大量营养因子的能力以及低免疫原性。在处理胎儿或胚胎干细胞时，从各种类型的组织中很容易地分离出这些细胞与道德无关。MSC同时具有促癌和抗癌特性。然而，MSC和纳米颗粒的基因工程被用作解决其中一些问题并改善这些细胞的抗肿瘤特性的手段。MSC及其外泌体对肿瘤壁的肿瘤归巢能力使它们成为将治疗剂靶向递送至肿瘤部位的有前途的载体。本研究调查了MSCs的规格，在乳腺癌中MSCs的促癌和抗癌特性，并综述了通过工程化MSCs（可能作为有效的细胞载体）进行的靶向乳腺癌治疗。