Facts and challenges of immunotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer

¹ Department of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Toxicology, Nantong Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China

² College of Environment and Resources, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan, 621010, China

Tumor Discovery 2022, 1(2), 196 https://doi.org/10.36922/td.v1i2.196

Submitted: 15 September 2022 | Accepted: 15 November 2022 | Published: 7 December 2022

© 2022 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

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Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive but common cancer subtype in clinical practice. Immune activation has been observed in a subgroup of TNBC, suggesting that immunotherapy may be a potential therapeutic option. With the widespread use of monotherapy, specific immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) such as avelumab, pembrolizumab, and atezolizumab have made significant contributions to improving outcomes in both early and advanced TNBC. In addition, the expressions of immune regulators such as cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4, programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), and programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), which are influenced by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), are also critical factors in determining the effect of immunotherapy in TNBC. This review focuses on the updates on the biological underpinnings of TNBC and the associated treatment advances. We present the current landscape of well-known immune regulators and widely used ICIs for TNBC and highlight the future directions that are significant for further improving the efficacy and effect of targeted therapeutic strategies to immunotherapy in TNBC and more reliable prognostic predictions for tailored therapy in the future.

Keywords

Triple-negative breast cancer

Immunotherapy

Immune checkpoint inhibitors

Programmed cell death 1/Programmed cell death-ligand 1

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province

Qing Lan Project for Excellent Young Key Teachers of Colleges and Universities of Jiangsu Province

Project List of Nantong University Student Innovation Training Program

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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