scholarly journals Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Intact Mismatch Repair and Partial Co-Expression of PD-L1 and LAG-3

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shafei Wu ◽  
Xiaohua Shi ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Xuefei Wang ◽  
Yuanyuan Liu ◽  
...  

Background and AimPoor response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has been observed in most triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cases (around 80%). Our aim was to investigate the status of mismatch repair (MMR), microsatellite instability (MSI), programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), and lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3) in TNBC.MethodsA total of 74 TNBC samples were retrospectively analyzed. MMR and MSI were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using Promega 1.2 and NCI panels, respectively. PD-L1, LAG-3, and CD8 expression was assessed by IHC.ResultsNone of the cases demonstrated deficient MMR (dMMR) or MSI. In total, 43/74 cases (58.1%) were PD-L1+, including 1 tumor PD-L1+, 25 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) PD-L1+, and 17 cases involving concurrence of tumor and TIL PD-L1+. The rate of TIL PD-L1+ was remarkably higher than that of tumor PD-L1+ (P<0.001). We identified 20 LAG-3+ cases (27.0%, 20/74), all of which were PD-L1+. Co-expression of PD-L1 and LAG-3 was noted in 46.5% (20/43) of the PD-L1+ population. In the LAG-3+ subtype (co-expression of PD-L1 and LAG-3), high correlation between TILs PD-L1+ and LAG-3+ was observed (P<0.01). A high frequency of CD8+ (98.6%, 73/74) was observed.ConclusiondMMR/MSI characteristics may not be a practical predictive marker for ICIs in TNBC. PD-L1+ is more common in TILs than in tumors. In the PD-L1+ population, approximately half of the cases showed LAG-3 co-expression. For patients with a poor response to PD-1(L1) mono ICI, dual blockade of PD-1(L1) and LAG-3 may be a viable option for the management of TNBC.

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 4883
Author(s):  
Marcus Schmidt ◽  
Anne-Sophie Heimes

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fara Brasó-Maristany ◽  
Miriam Sansó ◽  
Nuria Chic ◽  
Débora Martínez ◽  
Blanca González-Farré ◽  
...  

The immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab is approved for PD-L1-positive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, no activity of atezolizumab in PD-L1-negative TNBC has been reported to date. Here, we present the case study of a woman with TNBC with low tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and PD-L1-negative disease, which achieved a significant response to atezolizumab monotherapy and durable response after the combination of atezolizumab and nab-paclitaxel. The comprehensive genomic analysis that we performed in her tumor and plasma samples revealed high tumor mutational burden (TMB), presence of the APOBEC genetic signatures, high expression of the tumor inflammation signature, and a HER2-enriched subtype by the PAM50 assay. Some of these biomarkers have been shown to independently predict response to immunotherapy in other tumors and may explain the durable response in our patient. Our work warrants further translational studies to identify biomarkers of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in TNBC beyond PD-L1 expression and to better select patients that will benefit from immunotherapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 36-43
Author(s):  
Vahideh Beygi Rezagholi ◽  
Sheby Elsa George ◽  
Gouthami. U

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an uncommon subtype of breast cancer that constitutes 15-20% of cases which has a poorer prognosis and lower survival rates (approximately 18 months or less with available treatments) compared to other types of breast cancer. As the name suggests, TNBC is immunohistologically marked by the lack of expression of factors namely estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), and lack of overexpression and/or amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU gene. TNBC is characterized by high grades of Tumor-Infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), programmed-death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) as observed in other cancers too. Hence, metastatic TNBC (mTNBC) therapy focuses on the advancement of immune checkpoint inhibitors which block the above immune checkpoint proteins. The use of Atezolizumab (anti-PD-L1) in combination with nab-paclitaxel (chemotherapy agent) has been marked as a relevant advance in the treatment of metastatic, PD-L1-positive TNBC. It is better to consider advanced and approved diagnostic (VENTANA PD-L1 SP142 assay) in patients who get benefit from treatment with Atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel. Keywords: Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), Atezolizumab, Nab-paclitaxel, Chemotherapy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (28_suppl) ◽  
pp. 157-157
Author(s):  
Nobumoto Tomioka ◽  
Manabu Azuma ◽  
Kanako Hagio ◽  
Mayuko Ikarashi ◽  
Masako Satoh ◽  
...  

157 Background: The status of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is known to be prognostic for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) due to its correlation with chemosensitivity. Moreover, to regulate the pathway of immune-checkpoint molecules is also expected to improve the prognosis of TNBC. The relevancy of these two factors could be attractive concerning on the immune interaction which might play an important role in the prognosis of TNBC. Methods: Patients with TNBC are 277 among 2371 who were underwent surgery between January 2002 and December 2011. Out of 90 patients received preoperative systemic therapy (PST), 32 patients’ specimens of core needle biopsy were available for review for TILs. The TILs was scored as “% stromal” by pathologist who feels comfortable with through the scan for single whole section according to the recommendations by an International TILs Working Group 2014. The expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) was assessed by immunohistochemistry, which was defined 3 stages as negative or positive (weak or strong) by the pathologist in our facility. The statistical analysis for variance was done by Mann-Whitney U-test or Kruskal-Wallis test, and for survival by Kaplan Meier method was evaluated by Logrank test. Results: TILs’ score was defined as follows (%; numbers of patients): (5; 2), (10; 8), (20; 9), (30; 7), (40; 1), (50; 1), (60; 1), (70; 2), (80; 0), (90; 1). Statistical validations for variance of TILs’ score were significant on the regression rate of tumor size: (T-pT)/T; < 2/3 v.s. 2/3 < (p= 0.0097), and pathological therapeutic grade: 1 vs 2 or 3 (p= 0.0285). When we set the threshold at 30% of TILs’ score, DFS with TILs’ score < 30% was worse significantly (p= 0.0383) but not on OS (p= 0.0772). Unfavorable group on DFS (TILs’ score < 30%) was divided again into two groups by the status of PD-L1 significantly (negative or weak v.s. strong; p= 0.0319). Conclusions: The status of TILs and PD-L1 could elucidate the candidate for the therapeutic approaches to immune-checkpoint molecules, which could make improvement of the prognosis of TNBC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7154
Author(s):  
Martina Dameri ◽  
Lorenzo Ferrando ◽  
Gabriella Cirmena ◽  
Claudio Vernieri ◽  
Giancarlo Pruneri ◽  
...  

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is the technology of choice for the routine screening of tumor samples in clinical practice. In this setting, the targeted sequencing of a restricted number of clinically relevant genes represents the most practical option when looking for genetic variants associated with cancer, as well as for the choice of targeted treatments. In this review, we analyze available NGS platforms and clinical applications of multi-gene testing in breast cancer, with a focus on metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC). We make an overview of the clinical utility of multi-gene testing in mTNBC, and then, as immunotherapy is emerging as a possible targeted therapy for mTNBC, we also briefly report on the results of the latest clinical trials involving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and TNBC, where NGS could play a role for the potential predictive utility of homologous recombination repair deficiency (HRD) and tumor mutational burden (TMB).


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