Emerging immunotherapy strategies in breast cancer.
Although immunogenicity is typically associated with renal cell carcinomas and melanoma, there are several compelling reasons why immune-based therapies should be explored in breast cancer. First, breast cancers express multiple putative tumor-associated antigens, such as HER-2 and MUC-1, which have been the successful focus of vaccine development over the past decade, translating into tumor-specific immune responses and, in some cases, clinical benefit. Second, passive immune strategies with anti-HER-2 antibodies, such as trastuzumab and pertuzumab, have led to survival benefits in breast cancer. Finally, the successes observed with novel immunotherapeutic strategies, such as immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive T-cell therapies in other malignancies, combined with a growing body of literature that supports an interplay between solid tumors and the immune system, indicate that these strategies have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of breast cancer.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065, NY, USA.
David B
DB
Page
Jarushka
J
Naidoo
Heather L
HL
McArthur
D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000639:trends
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm