Breast cancer immunotherapy – a promising way?

04/2019

MUDr. Dagmar Brančíková, Ph.D.; MUDr. Markéta Protivánková

Interní hematologická a onkologická klinika LF MU a FN Brno

SUMMARY

Immunotherapy is an emerging new modality in the treatment of many tumors. In the treatment of breast carcinomas, there is already the first experience with this treatment, which gradually defines the subgroups of patients and stages of breast malignancies that receive the highest profits from immunotherapy alone or in combinations with chemotherapy and target therapy. We present a review of the literature on clinical (age, weight, gender) and laboratory parameters that predict the response to immunotherapy and an overview of suitable combinations with chemotherapy or targeted agents in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Monotherapy checkpoint inhibitors do not yet appear to be effective but combinations atezolizumab or pembrolizumab with nab-paclitaxel and eribulin mesylate in neoadjuvant and in the first line of palliation are very promising in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer locally advanced. So far, in the treatment of HER (epidermal growth factor receptor) positive tumors and ER (estrogen receptor) positive, a subset of patients with significant immunotherapy benefit cannot be unequivocally established.

Key words

immunotherapy, breast tumors, predictive parameters, combination immunotherapy and chemotherapy, atezolizumab, pembrolizumab