Aurora kinases regulate multiple steps of mitotic cell division in eukaryotic cells. Overexpression of aurora kinases has been observed in some tumor cells, which suggests that abnormalities in aurora kinases are closely related to tumorigenesis. In additon, aurora kinases are often amplified or overexpressed in breast cancer cells, leading to chromosomal segregation abnormalities and genomic disorder, and thereby activating oncogenic pathways. Novel Aurora A kinase inhibitors are currently being studied in multiple phase I and II studies. In this review, we describe the biological functions and mechanisms of aurora kinases in breast cancer cells and summarize the preclinical findings related to aurora kinases in breast cancer.
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