Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Immune Modulation as the New Treatment Paradigm

Abstract

Recent studies of tumor lymphocytic immune infiltrates in breast cancer have suggested an improved prognosis associated with increasing levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the breast cancer subtype that has the greatest incidence of patients with a robust tumor immune infiltrate, although it is still a minority of patients. Elevated levels of either intratumoral or stromal T cells are associated with an improved overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in TNBC as compared with other breast cancer subtypes. TNBC may be immunogenic for several reasons. Subtypes of TNBC have a significant number of genetic mutations, and the immune system may see the aberrant proteins encoded by these mutations as foreign. Moreover, TNBC is associated with a prognostic gene signature that also includes B cells. Antibodies secreted by B cells may bind to tumor antigens and amplify the adaptive immune response that has already been initiated in the tumor. New immune modulatory agents, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, have shown activity in immunogenic tumors such as melanoma and bladder cancer and have recently been tested in TNBC. The clinical response rates observed, patterns of response, and adverse event profiles are similar to what has been described in melanoma where this class of agents has already been approved for clinical use in some cases. Lessons learned in assessing the immunogenicity of TNBC, potential mechanisms of immune stimulation, and response to immune modulatory drugs lay the foundation for the development of immune-based therapies in all subtypes of the disease.