title: Mammary gland involution as an immunotherapeutic target for postpartum breast cancer.
abstract: Postpartum mammary gland involution has been identified as tumor-promotional and is proposed to contribute to the increased rates of metastasis and poor survival observed in postpartum breast cancer patients. In rodent models, the involuting mammary gland microenvironment is sufficient to induce enhanced tumor cell growth, local invasion, and metastasis. Postpartum involution shares many attributes with wound healing, including upregulation of genes involved in immune responsiveness and infiltration of tissue by immune cells. In rodent models, treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) ameliorates the tumor-promotional effects of involution, consistent with the immune milieu of the involuting gland contributing to tumor promotion. Currently, immunotherapy is being investigated as a means of breast cancer treatment with the purpose of identifying ways to enhance anti-tumor immune responses. Here we review evidence for postpartum mammary gland involution being a uniquely defined 'hot-spot' of pro-tumorigenic immune cell infiltration, and propose that immunotherapy should be explored for prevention and treatment of breast cancers that arise in this environment.
authors: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 12801 East 17th Avenue, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
authors: Jaime
authors: J
authors: Fornetti
authors: Holly A
authors: HA
authors: Martinson
authors: Courtney B
authors: CB
authors: Betts
authors: Traci R
authors: TR
authors: Lyons
authors: Sonali
authors: S
authors: Jindal
authors: Qiuchen
authors: Q
authors: Guo
authors: Lisa M
authors: LM
authors: Coussens
authors: Virginia F
authors: VF
authors: Borges
authors: Pepper
authors: P
authors: Schedin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000276:immunology*; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000276:immunology*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000276:immunology*