# A Decade of Innovation in Breast Cancer (2015–2025): A Comprehensive Review of Clinical Trials, Targeted Therapies and Molecular Perspectives

## TL;DR

This review highlights major advances in breast cancer treatment from 2015 to 2025, focusing on targeted therapies, immunotherapy, and personalized medicine.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of how recent clinical and technological innovations have transformed breast cancer treatment paradigms.

## Key findings

- CDK4/6 inhibitors and SERDs have improved outcomes in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer by overcoming endocrine resistance.
- Next-generation antibody-drug conjugates have revolutionized HER2-positive breast cancer treatment and CNS disease control.
- Triple-negative breast cancer has seen rapid progress through combination therapies involving ADCs, immunotherapy, and epigenetic modulation.

## Abstract

Over the past decade, breast cancer treatment has advanced more rapidly than ever before. New targeted medicines improved immune-based therapies, modern drug-delivery technologies, and highly precise molecular diagnostic tools have made it possible to tailor treatment to the unique biology of each tumor. In this review, we summarize the major progress made between 2015 and 2025 across all main types of breast cancer, including modern hormone therapies, drugs that block key growth pathways, treatments directed at the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) protein, immunotherapies, antibody–drug conjugates, as well as emerging and primarily adjunctive photodynamic approaches. We explain how discoveries from clinical trials, molecular research, and technology-driven innovation are reshaping current and emerging treatment paradigms. Understanding these advances can help guide the development of more effective and personalized therapies, ultimately improving outcomes for people diagnosed with breast cancer.

The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented transformation in breast cancer management, driven by parallel advances in targeted therapies, immunomodulation, drug-delivery technologies, and molecular diagnostic tools. This review summarizes the key achievements of 2015–2025, encompassing all major biological subtypes of breast cancer as well as technological innovations with substantial clinical relevance. In hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/HER2− disease, the integration of CDK4/6 inhibitors, modulators of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, oral Selective Estrogen Receptor Degraders (SERDs), and real-time monitoring of Estrogen Receptor 1 (ESR1) mutations has enabled clinicians to overcome endocrine resistance and dynamically tailor treatment based on evolving molecular alterations detected in circulating biomarkers. In HER2-positive breast cancer, treatment paradigms have been revolutionized by next-generation antibody–drug conjugates, advanced antibody formats, and technologies facilitating drug penetration across the blood–brain barrier, collectively improving systemic and central nervous system disease control. The most rapid progress has occurred in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), where synergistic strategies combining selective cytotoxicity via Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs), DNA damage response inhibitors, immunotherapy, epigenetic modulation, and therapies targeting immunometabolic pathways have markedly expanded therapeutic opportunities for this historically challenging subtype. In parallel, photodynamic therapy has emerged as an investigational and predominantly local phototheranostic approach, incorporating nanocarriers, next-generation photosensitizers, and photoimmunotherapy capable of inducing immunogenic cell death and modulating antitumor immune responses. A defining feature of the past decade has been the surge in patent-driven innovation, encompassing multispecific antibodies, optimized ADC architectures, novel linker–payload designs, and advanced nanotechnological and photoactive delivery systems. By integrating data from clinical trials, molecular analyses, and patent landscapes, this review illustrates how multimechanistic, biomarker-guided therapies supported by advanced drug-delivery technologies are redefining contemporary precision oncology in breast cancer. The emerging therapeutic paradigm underscores the convergence of targeted therapy, immunomodulation, synthetic lethality, and localized immune-activating approaches, charting a path toward further personalization of treatment in the years ahead.