Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune Targeting

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly heterogeneous tumor. There is increasing evidence of the role of tumor lymphocytic immune infiltrates in this subtype of breast cancer. Robust levels of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been associated with improved disease-free and overall...

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Main Authors: Paula García-Teijido, María Luque Cabal, Ignacio Peláez Fernández, Yolanda Fernández Pérez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2016-01-01
Series:Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.4137/CMO.S34540
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spelling doaj-cc6a092ff9184f16b4349d2f9c21f8f52020-11-25T03:22:13ZengSAGE PublishingClinical Medicine Insights: Oncology1179-55492016-01-0110s110.4137/CMO.S34540Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune TargetingPaula García-Teijido0María Luque Cabal1Ignacio Peláez Fernández2Yolanda Fernández Pérez3Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital San Agustín, C/Camino de Heros 6, Asturias, Spain.Medical Oncology, Hospital Central de Asturias, Spain.Medical Oncology, Hospital de Cabueñes, Gijón, Spain.Medical Oncology, Hospital Central de Asturias, Spain.Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly heterogeneous tumor. There is increasing evidence of the role of tumor lymphocytic immune infiltrates in this subtype of breast cancer. Robust levels of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been associated with improved disease-free and overall survival rates in TNBC patients with and without any treatment. Recent efforts have been made to develop a standardized methodology for evaluating TILs. The presence of TILs in the breast tumor microenvironment can also predict responses not only to neoadjuvant but also to adjuvant chemotherapy treatments. High numbers of TILs correlate with increased pathological complete responses (pCR) in TNBC. TILs are prognostic and predictive of response to standard therapies; thus, the immune system appears to play an active role in a subgroup of breast cancer. There is an increasing interest in directly targeting the immune system as part of breast cancer therapy, mainly in patients with TNBC. New immune modulatory agents, including immune checkpoints inhibitors, have shown promising activity in a subgroup of metastatic TNBC. Increased programmed cell death protein 1 ligand (PD-L1) expression on the surface of TNBC provides the rationale for implementing therapeutic strategies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in TNBC. The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab, and the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab have shown promising results in clinical trials.https://doi.org/10.4137/CMO.S34540
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Paula García-Teijido
María Luque Cabal
Ignacio Peláez Fernández
Yolanda Fernández Pérez
spellingShingle Paula García-Teijido
María Luque Cabal
Ignacio Peláez Fernández
Yolanda Fernández Pérez
Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune Targeting
Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology
author_facet Paula García-Teijido
María Luque Cabal
Ignacio Peláez Fernández
Yolanda Fernández Pérez
author_sort Paula García-Teijido
title Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune Targeting
title_short Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune Targeting
title_full Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune Targeting
title_fullStr Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune Targeting
title_full_unstemmed Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: The Future of Immune Targeting
title_sort tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in triple negative breast cancer: the future of immune targeting
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology
issn 1179-5549
publishDate 2016-01-01
description Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly heterogeneous tumor. There is increasing evidence of the role of tumor lymphocytic immune infiltrates in this subtype of breast cancer. Robust levels of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been associated with improved disease-free and overall survival rates in TNBC patients with and without any treatment. Recent efforts have been made to develop a standardized methodology for evaluating TILs. The presence of TILs in the breast tumor microenvironment can also predict responses not only to neoadjuvant but also to adjuvant chemotherapy treatments. High numbers of TILs correlate with increased pathological complete responses (pCR) in TNBC. TILs are prognostic and predictive of response to standard therapies; thus, the immune system appears to play an active role in a subgroup of breast cancer. There is an increasing interest in directly targeting the immune system as part of breast cancer therapy, mainly in patients with TNBC. New immune modulatory agents, including immune checkpoints inhibitors, have shown promising activity in a subgroup of metastatic TNBC. Increased programmed cell death protein 1 ligand (PD-L1) expression on the surface of TNBC provides the rationale for implementing therapeutic strategies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in TNBC. The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab, and the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab have shown promising results in clinical trials.
url https://doi.org/10.4137/CMO.S34540
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AT ignaciopelaezfernandez tumorinfiltratinglymphocytesintriplenegativebreastcancerthefutureofimmunetargeting
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