Immunotherapeutic interventions of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Zehuan Li,Jin Wang,Yiran Qiu,Weiqi Lu,Ying Jiang

doi:10.1186/s12967-018-1514-7

Abstract

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is a highly heterogeneous subtype of breast cancer that lacks the expression of oestrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. Although TNBC is sensitive to chemotherapy, the overall outcomes of TNBC are worse than for other breast cancers, and TNBC is still one of the most fatal diseases for women. With the discovery of antigens specifically expressed in TNBC cells and the developing technology of monoclonal antibodies, chimeric antigen receptors and cancer vaccines, immunotherapy is emerging as a novel promising option for TNBC. This review is mainly focused on the tumour microenvironment and host immunity, Triple Negative Breast Cancer and the clinical treatment of TNBC, novel therapies for cancer and immunotherapy for TNBC, and the future outlook for the treatment for TNBC and the interplay between the therapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors with targeted treatments in TNBC, adoptive cell therapy, cancer vaccines. The review also highlights recent reports on the synergistic effects of immunotherapy and chemotherapy, antibody–drug conjugates, and exosomes, as potential multifunctional therapeutic agents in TNBC.

Highlights

Tumours can be controlled by the immune system
Overall, it is evident from these studies that immunotherapy is emerging as a novel promising option for Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), and there is the possibility of developing exosomes as potential multifunctional therapeutic agents for TNBC
We expect that exosomes from the tumour microenvironment are likely to become the most effective vaccines for TNBC

Summary

Introduction

Tumours can be controlled by the immune system. This has been the subject of research for over a century, from the existence of tumour antigens and the cancer immunosurveillance hypothesis to the immunoediting hypothesis [1]. High numbers of TILs correlate with increased pathological complete responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in TNBC, which demonstrates that the immune system plays an active role in the subgroup of breast cancer [11].

Results

Conclusion