Comparison of the tumor immune microenvironment of primary hormone receptor-negative HER2-positive and triple negative breast cancer

Vos, Hanne; Lambein, Kathleen; Richard, Francois; Marien, Bram; Nevelsteen, Ines; Punie, Kevin; Wildiers, Hans; Berben, Lieze; Laenen, Annouschka; Floris, Giuseppe; Desmedt, Christine; Smeets, Ann

doi:10.1038/s41523-021-00332-7

Comparison of the tumor immune microenvironment of primary hormone receptor-negative HER2-positive and triple negative breast cancer

Author:

Vos, Hanne

Lambein, Kathleen ; Richard, Francois ; Marien, Bram ; Nevelsteen, Ines ; Punie, Kevin ; Wildiers, Hans ; Berben, Lieze ; Laenen, Annouschka ; Floris, Giuseppe ; Desmedt, Christine ; Smeets, Ann

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Oncology, INFILTRATING LYMPHOCYTES, FREE SURVIVAL, TRASTUZUMAB, G059821N#56124601, 3202 Clinical sciences, 3211 Oncology and carcinogenesis, 4202 Epidemiology

Abstract:

The vast majority of studies investigating immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) in patients with breast cancer have focused on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). In this study, we compared the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) between TNBC and hormone receptor-negative HER2-positive breast cancer based on a selection of immune markers at the protein level in an institutional retrospective series. Additionally, we performed a similar comparison using publicly available transcriptomics data. Altogether, the results show a comparable TIME in both groups, with possible implications for the use of ICI in patients with hormone receptor-negative HER2-positive breast tumors.