Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent and deadliest cancers among women in the world because of its aggressive behaviour 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 foetal 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 tumour-homing ability of MSCs and their exosomes to tumour niches have made them as a promising vector for targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to tumours 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.

乳腺癌是世界上女性中最普遍和最致命的癌症之一，因为它具有侵略性的行为和对常规疗法的反应不足。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）的有希望的治疗策略。间充质干细胞是多能成体干细胞，具有细胞治疗的重要特征，例如组织归巢到受伤部位、分化潜能、分泌大量营养因子的能力和低免疫原性。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伦理问题无关。MSCs 表现出促癌和抗癌的特性。然而，MSCs 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。MSCs 及其外泌体对肿瘤生态位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 的特性、MSCs 在乳腺癌中的促癌和抗癌特性，并回顾了靶向乳腺癌治疗通过工程间充质干细胞，可能作为有效的细胞载体。