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Hsu R, Al-Zubeidy B, Flores D, Nazarian A, Baugh A, Gonzalez E, Castanon S, Xiu J, Kang I, Spicer D, Lenz HJ, Dara L, Ademuyiwa FO, Korn WM, Irshad S, Chan IS, Roussos Torres ET. Evaluation of markers of immunity in different metastatic immune microenvironments suggests more suppression within breast to liver metastases in breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2024:10.1007/s10549-024-07295-w. [PMID: 38643348 DOI: 10.1007/s10549-024-07295-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Programmed death receptor ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression and tumor mutational burden (TMB) are approved screening biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) in advanced triple negative breast cancer. We examined these biomarkers along with characterization of the tumor microenvironment (TME) between breast tumors (BrTs), axillary metastases (AxMs), liver metastases (LvMs), non-axillary lymph node metastases, and non-liver metastases to determine differences related to site of metastatic disease. METHODS 3076 unpaired biopsies from breast cancer patients were analyzed using whole transcriptome sequencing and NextGen DNA depicting TMB within tumor sites. The PD-L1 positivity was determined with VENTANA PD-L1 (SP142) assay. The immune cell fraction within the TME was calculated by QuantiSeq and MCP-counter. RESULTS Compared to BrT, more LvM samples had a high TMB (≥ 10 mutations/Mb) and fewer LvM samples had PD-L1+ expression. Evaluation of the TME revealed that LvM sites harbored lower infiltration of adaptive immune cells, such as CD4+, CD8+, and regulatory T-cells compared with the BrT foci. We saw differences in innate immune cell infiltration in LvM compared to BrT, including neutrophils and NK cells. CONCLUSIONS LvMs are less likely to express PD-L1+ tumor cells but more likely to harbor high TMB as compared to BrTs. Unlike AxMs, LvMs represent a more immunosuppressed TME and demonstrate lower gene expression associated with adaptive immunity compared to BrTs. These findings suggest biopsy site be considered when interpreting results that influence ICI use for treatment and further investigation of immune composition and biomarkers expression by metastatic site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hsu
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Batul Al-Zubeidy
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Flores
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ari Nazarian
- Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Aaron Baugh
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Edgar Gonzalez
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sofi Castanon
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Irene Kang
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, City of Hope Orange County, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Darcy Spicer
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Heinz Josef Lenz
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lily Dara
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Sheeba Irshad
- School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Clinician Scientist, London, UK
| | - Isaac S Chan
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Evanthia T Roussos Torres
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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Nicolini A, Ferrari P, Carpi A. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Other Immune Therapies in Breast Cancer: A New Paradigm for Prolonged Adjuvant Immunotherapy. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10102511. [PMID: 36289773 PMCID: PMC9599105 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10102511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 09/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women worldwide. Advances in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the last decade have progressively decreased the cancer mortality rate, and in recent years, immunotherapy has emerged as a relevant tool against cancer. HER2+ and triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are considered more immunogenic and suitable for this kind of treatment due to the higher rate of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. In TNBC, genetic aberrations further favor immunogenicity due to more neo-antigens in cancer cells. Methods: This review summarizes the principal ongoing conventional and investigational immunotherapies in breast cancer. Particularly, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and their use alone or combined with DNA damage repair inhibitors (DDRis) are described. Then, the issue on immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies against HER-2 family receptors is updated. Other investigational immunotherapies include a new schedule based on the interferon beta-interleukin-2 sequence that was given in ER+ metastatic breast cancer patients concomitant with anti-estrogen therapy, which surprisingly showed promising results. Results: Based on the scientific literature and our own findings, the current evaluation of tumor immunogenicity and the conventional model of adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) are questioned. Conclusions: A novel strategy based on additional prolonged adjuvant immunotherapy combined with hormone therapy or alternated with CT is proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Nicolini
- Department of Oncology, Transplantations and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Paola Ferrari
- Unit of Oncology, Department of Medical and Oncological Area, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria Pisana, 56125 Pisa, Italy
| | - Angelo Carpi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
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Núñez Abad M, Calabuig-Fariñas S, Lobo de Mena M, Torres-Martínez S, García González C, García García JÁ, Iranzo González-Cruz V, Camps Herrero C. Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) as Immunotherapy Biomarker in Breast Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:307. [PMID: 35053471 PMCID: PMC8773553 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14020307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer constitutes the most common malignant neoplasm in women around the world. Approximately 12% of patients are diagnosed with metastatic stage, and between 5 and 30% of early or locally advanced BC patients will relapse, making it an incurable disease. PD-L1 ligation is an immune inhibitory molecule of the activation of T cells, playing a relevant role in numerous types of malignant tumors, including BC. The objective of the present review is to analyze the role of PD-L1 as a biomarker in the different BC subtypes, adding clinical trials with immune checkpoint inhibitors and their applicable results. Diverse trials using immunotherapy with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 in BC, as well as prospective or retrospective cohort studies about PD-L1 in BC, were included. Despite divergent results in the reviewed studies, PD-L1 seems to be correlated with worse prognosis in the hormone receptor positive subtype. Immune checkpoints inhibitors targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis have achieved great response rates in TNBC patients, especially in combination with chemotherapy, making immunotherapy a new treatment option in this scenario. However, the utility of PD-L1 as a predictive biomarker in the rest of BC subtypes remains unclear. In addition, predictive differences have been found in response to immunotherapy depending on the stage of the tumor disease. Therefore, a better understanding of tumor microenvironment, as well as identifying new potential biomarkers or combined index scores, is necessary in order to make a better selection of the subgroups of BC patients who will derive benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martín Núñez Abad
- Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (M.L.d.M.); (C.G.G.); (C.C.H.)
| | - Silvia Calabuig-Fariñas
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Fundación Investigación, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (S.C.-F.); (S.T.-M.)
- Unidad Mixta TRIAL, Centro Investigación Príncipe Felipe-Fundación Investigación, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer, CIBERONC, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Pathology, Universitat de València, 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Miriam Lobo de Mena
- Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (M.L.d.M.); (C.G.G.); (C.C.H.)
| | - Susana Torres-Martínez
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Fundación Investigación, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (S.C.-F.); (S.T.-M.)
- Unidad Mixta TRIAL, Centro Investigación Príncipe Felipe-Fundación Investigación, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer, CIBERONC, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Clara García González
- Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (M.L.d.M.); (C.G.G.); (C.C.H.)
| | | | - Vega Iranzo González-Cruz
- Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (M.L.d.M.); (C.G.G.); (C.C.H.)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer, CIBERONC, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine, Universitat de València, 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Carlos Camps Herrero
- Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (M.L.d.M.); (C.G.G.); (C.C.H.)
- Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Fundación Investigación, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain; (S.C.-F.); (S.T.-M.)
- Unidad Mixta TRIAL, Centro Investigación Príncipe Felipe-Fundación Investigación, Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer, CIBERONC, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine, Universitat de València, 46010 Valencia, Spain
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