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Review
. 2019 Nov 20;11(12):1822.
doi: 10.3390/cancers11121822.

Immunotherapy: A Challenge of Breast Cancer Treatment

Marilina García-Aranda  1   2   3   4 , Maximino Redondo  1   2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Immunotherapy: A Challenge of Breast Cancer Treatment

Marilina García-Aranda et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and is a leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Despite the significant benefit of the use of conventional chemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies in the prognosis of breast cancer patients and although the recent approval of the anti-PD-L1 antibody atezolizumab in combination with chemotherapy has been a milestone for the treatment of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, immunologic treatment of breast tumors remains a great challenge. In this review, we summarize current breast cancer classification and standard of care, the main obstacles that hinder the success of immunotherapies in breast cancer patients, as well as different approaches that could be useful to enhance the response of breast tumors to immunotherapies.

Keywords: breast cancer; checkpoint; immunotherapy; personalized medicine; resistance; targeted treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cancer Immunoediting. ELIMINATION: (1) Neoantigen production by transformed cells. (2) Neoantigen presentation on the surface of transformed cells, associated with HLA-I. (3) Neoantigen recognition and processing by antigen presenting cells. (4) Neoantigen presentation on the surface of antigen presenting cells, associated with HLA-II. (5) T-cell activation in the presence of co-stimulatory signals. (6) Transformed cell recognition by activated T cells and elimination. EQUILIBRIUM: (7) Transformed cells with a resistant or non-immunogenic phenotype escape elimination and proliferate, although the immune system is still able to control the tumor growth. ESCAPE: (8) Uncontrolled proliferation of cells with a resistant or a non-immunogenic phenotype, leading to tumor progression and metastasis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Modalities of cancer immunotherapy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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