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Review
. 2023 May 24;31(3):221-238.
doi: 10.32604/or.2023.028525. eCollection 2023.

Targeting triple-negative breast cancer: A clinical perspective

Lazar S Popovic  1   2 , Gorana Matovina-Brko  1 , Maja Popovic  1   2 , Kevin Punie  3 , Ana Cvetanovic  4   5 , Matteo Lambertini  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Targeting triple-negative breast cancer: A clinical perspective

Lazar S Popovic et al. Oncol Res. .

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a disease with often an aggressive course and a poor prognosis compared to other subtypes of breast cancer. TNBC accounts for approximately 10%-15% of all diagnosed breast cancer cases and represents a high unmet need in the field. Up to just a few years ago, chemotherapy was the only systemic treatment option for this subtype (1). To date, TNBC is considered a heterogeneous disease. One of the existing classifications is based on the analysis of mRNA expression in 587 TNBC cases, in which Lehman et al. proposed six subtypes of TNBC as follows: two basal-like (BL1 and BL2) subtypes, a mesenchymal (M) subtype, a mesenchymal stem-like (MSL) subtype, an immunomodulatory (IM) subtype, and a luminal androgen receptor (LAR) subtype (2). Later studies have demonstrated that the IM and MSL subtypes do not correlate with independent subtypes but reflect background expression by dense infiltration of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) or stromal cells. According to this finding, the classification of TNBC has been revised into the following four subtypes: basal 1, basal 2, LAR, and mesenchymal subtypes (3). Over the last years, several new strategies have been investigated for the treatment of patients with TNBC. Among them, immunotherapy, antibody drug conjugates, new chemotherapy agents, and targeted therapy have been and are currently being developed. The present article aims to provide an updated overview on the different treatment options that are now available or are still under investigation for patients with TNBC.

Keywords: Antibody-drug conjugates; Immunotherapy; Target therapy; Triple-negative breast cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

Lazar S. Popovic: Speaking fee and/or advisory board: Roche, MSD, BMS, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, Gilead, Sandoz, Takeda, Astellas, Janssen, Sanofi, Abbvie, Merck, Lilly (all outside of submitted work). Gorana Matovina Brko: Speaking fee and travel support: Roche, Pfizer, Novartis, Astellas, Janssen, Sanofi, Merck (all outside of submitted work). Maja Popovic Speaking fee and travel support: Roche, BMS, Pfizer, Merck, Takeda, Astellas, Janssen (all outside of submitted work). Kevin Punie: Travel support from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, PharmaMar and Roche (outside the submitted work). His institution received honoraria for advisory/consultancy roles for AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Roche, Teva and Vifor Pharma, Speaker fees for Eli Lilly, Medscape, MSD, Mundi Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer and Roche, and Research funding from MSD and Sanofi (all outside the submitted work). Ana Cvetanovic: Speaking fee and/or advisory board: Roche, MSD, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, Lilly (all outside of submitted work). Matteo Lambertini acted as a consultant for Roche, Pfizer, Lilly, MSD, Seagen, Gilead, AstraZeneca and Novartis, and received honoraria from Sandoz, Takeda, Ipsen, Roche, Lilly, Pfizer and Novartis (all outside the submitted work).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. TNBC targeting strategies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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