Triple-negative breast cancer – the past, present and future: recent and emerging trends in immunotherapy

In recent years, many studies have focused on the host immune system and its relationship with tumor progression in a variety of solid tumors, including breast cancer. This study investigates recent trends of immunotherapy research in breast cancer and compares the contributions of research from different regions, institutions, and authors. A search of breast cancer and immunotherapy studies that were published between 2010 and 2019—with different keyword combinations—was performed in the Web of Science database. Bibliometric data were collected for analysis. VOSviewer software was used to generate a figure for the keyword’s co-occurrence network, so as to implement network visualization analysis. A total of 1,041 publications were identified. The United States and China contributed to approximately 50% of the publications, 336 and 208, respectively. Both countries drove the increase in publications after 2015. A paper entitled “Pembrolizumab in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer: Phase IB KEYNOTE-012 Study” that was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nanda et al. was the most cited (715 citations). The keywords found in this research were grouped into four clusters: “mechanism,” “vaccination,” “PD-L1,” and “chemotherapy.” The terms “tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes” and “PD-1/PD-L1” are among the latest hotspots, which mostly appeared in 2017. Author keyword analysis revealed that recent trends in breast cancer immunotherapy focus on the triple-negative breast cancer subtype and PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint pathway and inhibitors. This study analyzed global trends in immunotherapy research on breast cancer over the past 10 years and provided insight into the features and research hotspots of the articles in this issue.

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Exploring New Targets and Publication Tendency of Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A 20-Year Bibliometric Analysis

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1106099/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaonan Sheng ◽

Huijuan Dai ◽

Yonggang Song ◽

Xueyun Ma

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Bibliometric Analysis ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Tumor Biology ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Gene Mutations ◽

Research Focus ◽

The Past ◽

The Usa

Abstract Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, and it lacks an efficient target treatment. Here, we aimed to gain knowledge on the development of TNBC research and explore potential treatment strategies.Methods: We analyzed 14,389 publications on TNBC from the Web of Science (WOS) over the past 20 years, from 2000 to 2020, using bibliometric methods. We evaluated the publication tendency of TNBC and the contributions of different countries. Institutions and journals with the highest number of TNBC publications were screened. Finally, the research focus of the TNBC publications were also analyzed.Results: TNBC publications have significantly increased in the past 20 years, with elevated relative research interest (RRI). The USA has the most TNBC-related publications with high quality, and China is the country with the most rapid growth tendency in TNBC publications. The University of Texas System is the institution with the most TNBC publications. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment is the journal that published the most TNBC-related publications. The top 30 publications with high citations are also listed. The researches focusing on TNBC in the past 20 years were separated into four main clusters: tumor biology, TNBC therapies, treatment sensitivity, and gene mutations. The research focus in TNBC ranked by appearing years reflects the development of TNBC treatment strategy, showing that targeting tumor immunity is now the main focus in TNBC research. Conclusions: Using bibliometric analysis, we initially revealed the increasing interest in TNBC research and summarized the publication tendency of TNBC. We also reported focused topics screened from publications in the past 20 years, indicating the main problems and research objectives of TNBC for the first time. Immune-related topics are becoming the focus of TNBC research.

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Current Progresses and Challenges of Immunotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers12123529 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 3529

Author(s):

Karan Mediratta ◽

Sara El-Sahli ◽

Vanessa D’Costa ◽

Lisheng Wang

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte ◽

Checkpoint Inhibition ◽

Immune Checkpoint Inhibition ◽

Promising Candidate ◽

The Past ◽

Programmed Death ◽

Programmed Death 1

With improved understanding of the immunogenicity of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), immunotherapy has emerged as a promising candidate to treat this lethal disease owing to the lack of specific targets and effective treatments. While immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) has been effectively used in immunotherapy for several types of solid tumor, monotherapies targeting programmed death 1 (PD-1), its ligand PD-L1, or cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) have shown little efficacy for TNBC patients. Over the past few years, various therapeutic candidates have been reviewed, attempting to improve ICI efficacy on TNBC through combinatorial treatment. In this review, we describe the clinical limitations of ICI and illustrate candidates from an immunological, pharmacological, and metabolic perspective that may potentiate therapy to improve the outcomes of TNBC patients.

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A review of current progress in triple-negative breast cancer therapy

Open Medicine ◽

10.1515/med-2020-0138 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 1143-1149

Author(s):

Meiying Shen ◽

Huawen Pan ◽

Yuxia Chen ◽

Yu Hang Xu ◽

Weixiong Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Brca Mutation ◽

Complete Response ◽

Parp Inhibitors ◽

The Past ◽

Germline Brca Mutation ◽

Aggressive Subtype

AbstractTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive subtype known for its extremely high drug resistance, progression, poor prognosis, and lack of clear therapeutic targets. Researchers are aiming to advance TNBC treatment worldwide. In the past 2–3 years, more positive results have emerged in the clinical research on TNBC treatment. Based on the results, several impressive drugs have been approved to benefit patients with TNBC, including the PARP inhibitors olaparib and talazoparib for germline BRCA mutation-associated breast cancer (gBRCAm-BC) and immunotherapy using the checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel for programmed cell death-ligand 1-positive (PD-L1+) advanced TNBC. Although neoadjuvant therapy has focused on combinations of systemic agents to optimize pathologically complete response, metastatic TNBC still has a poor prognosis. Innovative multidrug combination systemic therapies based on neoadjuvants and adjuvants have led to significant improvements in outcomes, particularly over the past decade.

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