scholarly journals Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes and Breast Cancer: Are Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Ready for Prime Time in Breast Cancer?

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Cvetanović ◽  
Slađana Filipović ◽  
Nikola Živković ◽  
Miloš Kostić ◽  
Svetislav Vrbić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Tumor Biology ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽  
Breast Tumors ◽  
Prime Time ◽  
Infiltrating Lymphocytes

SummaryIn recent years, results obtained from different studies with large cohorts have revealed a bond between the presence of extensive lymphocytic infiltration and favourable prognostic associations in the early-stage of breast cancer (BC) and high response rates to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Examiners used tumors from large cohorts of patients who took part in randomized neoadjuvant and adjuvant clinical trials. The importance of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) appears to be subtype-specific and varies depending on the histological characteristics of the tumor. TILs have proven to be a good prognostic marker, but only in highly proliferative breast tumors such as triple negative breast tumors (TNBC) or HER 2 positive BC.In the era when standard, well-known, prognostic and predictive biomarkers are ever changing and the use of molecular profiling analyses are increasing, we are looking for techniques to improve our understanding of tumor biology and improve patient outcome. The relevance of TILs cannot be ignored but needs to be properly evaluated in larger prospective studies which must encompass the parameters set out in previous studies. The use of TILs as prognostic biomarkers in early breast cancer may represent a new dawn, and use of immunotherapy, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors, probably is the future for the breast cancer but it is not yet ready for prime time.

scholarly journals Integrating Immunotherapy with Chemotherapy: A New Approach to Drug Repurposing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hina Qayoom ◽  
Umar Mehraj ◽  
Shariqa Aisha ◽  
Shazia Sofi ◽  
Manzoor Ahmad Mir
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Breast Cancer Subtype ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽  
Her2 Receptor ◽  
Infiltrating Lymphocytes

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype lacking the three hormonal receptors namely estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 receptor, and the only treatment option available for TNBC is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy lacks specificity since it acts on normal healthy cells as well resulting into secondary diseases in TNBC patients. In addition chemotherapy poses recurrence and relapse issues due to the development of chemoresistance among TNBC patients. Immunotherapy remarkably immune checkpoint inhibitors show a great therapeutic potential in TNBC. As TNBC contain an increased TILs (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes) infiltration making it more suitable as a therapeutic target anti-tumor immune strategy. Moreover, evidences have indicated that chemotherapy upregulates the anti-tumor immune response in TNBC. As a result, a combination of immunotherapy with chemotherapy may increase the overall relapse and recurrence free survival of TNBC patients. Therefore, in this chapter we will focus on how the immunotherapy works in TNBC, their effects and consequences. We will further be discussing the clinical studies and the importance of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in combination with various therapeutic agents and target. Further, we will explore the processes involved.

scholarly journals Current status of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy in breast cancer

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emi Noguchi ◽  
Tadahiko Shien ◽  
Hiroji Iwata
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Infiltrating Lymphocytes

Abstract Over the past 10 years, immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized the management of various cancers. However, immunotherapy in breast cancer has not been successful. Breast cancer has long been recognized as an immunologically ‘cold’ tumor, although a higher frequency of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes present in certain subtypes and an association between tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and favorable prognosis have been reported. In March 2019, the combination of atezolizumab and nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel was granted accelerated approval in the United States for the treatment of programmed death-ligand 1-positive advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. This finally opened the door for immune checkpoint blockade therapy for breast cancer. Several clinical trials have been conducted using different combinations of immune checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy or targeted agents in various treatment settings for metastatic breast cancer and early-stage breast cancer. In this review, we summarize recent advances in immune checkpoint blockade therapy and predictive biomarkers in breast cancer.

Ανοσοθεραπεία ενάντια στον καρκίνο του παγκρέατος

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Παύλος Παπακοτούλας
Keyword(s):  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽  
Ciclopirox Olamine ◽  
Ifn Γ ◽  
Infiltrating Lymphocytes

Το πιο συχνό είδος καρκίνου του παγκρέατος είναι το αδενοκαρκίνωμα του παγκρέατος. Το παγκρεατικό αδενοκαρκίνωμα είναι η 4η κύρια αιτία των θανάτων από καρκίνο παγκοσμίως. Περίπου 60-80% των ασθενών έχουν τη στιγμή της διάγνωσης προχωρημένη νόσο, επειδή ο καρκίνος εισβάλλει στους περιβάλλοντες ιστούς έξω από το πάγκρεας (τοπικά προχωρημένος), ή έχει δώσει μεταστάσεις έξω από το πάγκρεας (μεταστατικός). Καθώς η νόσος παρουσιάζει πολύ υψηλό ποσοστό θνητότητας, κρίνεται επιτακτική η ανάγκη ανεύρεσης νέων αποτελεσματικότερων θεραπειών. Με τη ανάπτυξη της μοριακής και βιολογικής κατανόησης της ογκογενετικής εξέλιξης, εφαρμόστηκαν νέες στρατηγικές στην αντιμετώπιση του καρκίνου και κατ’ επέκταση σε αυτόν της ανοσοθεραπείας του καρκίνου. Η κατανόηση των μοριακών μηχανισμών που διέπουν την ανοσοδιαφυγή των όγκων, αλλά και την αλληλεπίδραση των καρκινικών κυττάρων με τα κύτταρα του ανοσοποιητικού συστήματος, έχει δώσει τεράστια ώθηση στην ανοσοθεραπεία του καρκίνου την τελευταία δεκαετία. Τα κύτταρα του ανθρώπινου οργανισμού βρίσκονται υπό διαρκή ανοσιακή επιτήρηση και το ανοσοποιητικό σύστημα αποτελεί αποτρεπτικό μηχανισμό στον νεοπλασματικό μετασχηματισμό και τη δημιουργία νεοπλασιών. Κλινικό σημείο που επιβεβαιώνει τη θεωρία της ανοσοεπιτήρησης είναι η διαπίστωση της παρουσίας CD8+ T-λεμφοκυττάρων μέσα στους όγκους (Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes – TILs). Συνέπεια αυτού είναι και οι θεραπείες που βασίζονται στην καταστολή των σημείων ελέγχου του ανοσοποιητικού συστήματος (Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors). Είναι γνωστό ότι φάρμακα με αντιμυκητιακές ιδιότητες συμβάλλουν στην ενίσχυση του ανοσοποιητικού συστήματος. Ένα χαρακτηριστικό παράδειγμα είναι η κυκλοπιροξολαμίνη (Ciclopirox Olamine, CPX), που χορηγείται σε άτομα που ταλαιπωρούνται από μυκητιάσεις. Σύμφωνα με την παρούσα διατριβή η συγκεκριμένη θεραπεία μπορεί να μειώσει δραστικά την ταχύτητα εξέλιξης των καρκινικών όγκων, αλλά παράλληλα ενισχύει τη δράση των κυτταροστατικών που χορηγούνται στον ασθενή. Επίσης, η τινζαπαρίνη (Ηπαρίνη Χαμηλού Μοριακού Βάρους) χρησιμοποιείται για την πρόληψη και την αντιμετώπιση της φλεβικής θρομβοεμβολής, αλλά από τα αποτελέσματα της παρούσης διατριβής φαίνεται ότι μπορεί να διαδραματίζει ρόλο στην αντιμετώπιση του όγκου. Οι μηχανισμοί στους οποίους οφείλονται τα σημαντικά in vivο αποτελέσματα, είναι η αύξηση της IFN-γ, η αύξηση των CD8+ κυττάρων, η μείωση των Tregs κυττάρων, η μείωση της έκφρασης του VEGFR-2 και η αύξηση της απόπτωσης στα καρκινικά κύτταρα. Στην παρούσα διατριβή, προτείνεται πως η συνδυαστική θεραπεία με τη συμμετοχή της ανοσοθεραπείας, έχει προφανώς υψηλότερη αντινεοπλασματική επίδραση στη μείωση της ανάπτυξης του όγκου, υποδηλώνοντας μια συνεργική δράση. Αυτή η συνεργική στρατηγική μπορεί να ανοίξει νέους δρόμους για τη θεραπεία ασθενών με καρκίνο του παγκρέατος.

scholarly journals Impact of the Tumor Microenvironment on Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes: Focus on Breast Cancer

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 117822341773156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan J Cohen ◽  
Ronald Blasberg
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Immune Response ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽  
Breast Tumors ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Physical Barriers ◽  
Infiltrating Lymphocytes

Immunotherapy is revolutionizing cancer care across disciplines. The original success of immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma has already been translated to Food and Drug Administration–approved therapies in a number of other cancers, and a large number of clinical trials are underway in many other disease types, including breast cancer. Here, we review the basic requirements for a successful antitumor immune response, with a focus on the metabolic and physical barriers encountered by lymphocytes entering breast tumors. We also review recent clinical trials of immunotherapy in breast cancer and provide a number of interesting questions that will need to be answered for successful breast cancer immunotherapy.

scholarly journals Immunomodulating Therapies in Breast Cancer—From Prognosis to Clinical Practice

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 4883
Author(s):  
Marcus Schmidt ◽  
Anne-Sophie Heimes
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Triple Negative ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽  
Response To Chemotherapy ◽  
Infiltrating Lymphocytes

The role of the immune system in breast cancer has been debated for decades. The advent of technologies such as next generation sequencing (NGS) has elucidated the crucial interplay between somatic mutations in tumors leading to neoantigens and immune responses with increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and improved prognosis of breast cancer patients. In particular, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a higher mutational burden compared to other breast cancer subtypes. In addition, higher levels of tumor-associated antigens suggest that immunotherapies are a promising treatment option, specifically for TNBC. Indeed, higher concentrations of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are associated with better prognosis and response to chemotherapy in TNBC. An important target within the cancer immune cell cycle is the “immune checkpoint”. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPis) block the interaction of certain cell surface proteins that act as “brakes” on immune responses. Recent studies have shown that ICPis improve survival in both early and advanced TNBC. However, this comes at the price of increased toxicity, particularly immune-mediated toxicity. As an alternative approach, individualized mRNA vaccination strategies against tumor-associated neoantigens represent another promising approach leading to neoantigen-specific immune responses. These novel strategies should help to improve treatment outcomes, especially for patients with triple negative breast cancer.

scholarly journals Predictive Biomarkers of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Response in Breast Cancer: Looking beyond Tumoral PD-L1

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1863
Author(s):  
Nan Chen ◽  
Nicole Higashiyama ◽  
Valentina Hoyos
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Immune Cells ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Cytotoxic T Cells ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers

Immune checkpoint inhibitors utilize the immune system to kill cancer cells and are now widely applied across numerous malignancies. Pembrolizumab has two breast-specific indications in triple-negative disease. Currently, programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression on tumor and surrounding immune cells is the only validated predictive biomarker for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in breast cancer; however, it can be imprecise. Additional biomarkers are needed to identify the patient population who will derive the most benefit from these therapies. The tumor immune microenvironment contains many biomarker candidates. In tumor cells, tumor mutational burden has emerged as a robust biomarker across malignancies in general, with higher burden cancers demonstrating improved response, but will need further refinement for less mutated cancers. Preliminary studies suggest that mutations in breast cancer gene 2 (BRCA-2) are associated with increased immune infiltration and response to ICI therapy. Other genomic alterations are also being investigated as potential predictive biomarkers. In immune cells, increased quantity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells have correlated with response to immunotherapy treatment. The role of other immune cell phenotypes is being investigated. Peripherally, many liquid-based biomarker strategies such as PD-L1 expression on circulating tumor cells and peripheral immune cell quantification are being studied; however, these strategies require further standardization and refinement prior to large-scale testing. Ultimately, multiple biomarkers utilized together may be needed to best identify the appropriate patients for these treatments.

Tumor mutational load in gynecological and breast cancer.

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (7_suppl) ◽  
pp. 44-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipa Lynce ◽  
Joanne Xiu ◽  
Elias Obeid ◽  
Antoinette R. Tan ◽  
Zoran Gatalica ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Therapeutic Response ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽  
Molecular Profiling ◽  
Mutational Load ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Test Standardization ◽  
Infiltrating Lymphocytes

44 Background: Lack of test standardization and conflicting results on PD1 and PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays challenge their use as predictive biomarkers for checkpoint inhibitors. High tumor mutational load (TML) has been linked to therapeutic response with immune checkpoint inhibition in melanoma, lung and colorectal cancer. Herein, we explore association of TML and PD1/PD-L1 expression in gynecological (GC) and breast cancer (BC). As secondary aim we explore the association of TML with BRCA1/2 mutations. Methods: De-identified data from molecular profiling on GC and BC tumors from the CARIS Life Sciences database was analyzed after obtaining IRB approval. TML was defined as the total number of nonsynonymous, somatic mutations per Mb sequenced with a 592-gene panel. PD-1 IHC was tested on Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) with the cutoff of 1/HPF; PD-L1 expression was measured on tumor cells with the cutoff of 2+, 5%. Biomarker association was tested with ANOVA test (SPSS v23, IBM). Results: As shown in table, cervical (CC) and endometrial cancers (EC) had the highest TML and squamous CC and triple negative BC (TNBC) tumors with highest PD-L1. In EC, MSI-H was associated with higher TML when compared to MSS (20.1 vs. 6.1, p<0.001); 4 POLE-mutated tumors all carried TML (36-678) higher than mean (11.5). TML was not associated with PD1 or PDL1 positivity in any of the diseases. BRCA1/2 mutations were associated with higher mean TML in ovarian cancer (OC) (6.8 vs. 5.4 in wild type, p<0.001) but not in BC (6.3 vs. 6.8 in wild type, p=0.48). Conclusions: In this sample of patients who underwent molecular profiling, there was no association between TML and PD1 or PD-L1 expression. Association between BRCA1/2 tumor mutations and TML in OC is worth exploring. High TML in CC and EC support the development of immunotherapy for these diseases. [Table: see text]

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