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Immunotherapy Approaches in Breast Cancer Treatment (2nd Edition)
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Immunotherapy Approaches in Breast Cancer Treatment (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 663

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yi Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
2. Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Interests: breast cancer; epigenetics; cancer pharmacology; immuno-oncology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Bing Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40536, USA
Interests: breast cancer; obesity and immunoregulation; fatty acid binding proteins; cancer immunotherapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is a continuation of our previous Special Issue, “Immunotherapy Approaches in Breast Cancer Treatment” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers/special_issues/7V4A6SUYS8). Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of female cancer deaths in the U.S. BC is heterogeneous in nature, and different subtypes show considerable variability in clinical behavior, histologic features, and biological properties. Genetic and/or epigenetic defects in BC cells lead to the development of an immunosuppressive environment and tumor escape from immune surveillance. Immunotherapy has been emerging as an exciting new treatment option for BC, especially for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). While TNBC is more likely to respond to immunotherapy, the overall response rate is still low. Thus, developing more efficacious antitumor immune drugs and rational combination solutions is critical for improving the clinical outcomes of immunotherapy in BC, which is historically regarded as an immunologically quiescent (cold) tumor. We are facing many challenging issues in BC immunotherapy. We need to better understand how a diverse tumor microenvironment contributes to immunotherapy resistance and identify unique biomarkers to optimize the combination of immunotherapy with other therapies. The goal of this Special Issue is to bring basic scientists and clinical investigators together to explore problems and challenges regarding BC immunotherapy. Special considerations will be given to findings of new mechanisms regarding the tumor immune microenvironment, immune evasion, immune cell functions, immunotherapy resistance, and novel combination strategies in relation to BC. We expect this Special Issue to provide new insights into BC biology and facilitate innovative approaches to improve the outcomes of immunotherapy in breast cancer.

Dr. Yi Huang
Dr. Bing Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • breast cancer progression
  • immunotherapy
  • combination therapy
  • drug discovery
  • antitumor immunity
  • tumor immune microenvironment
  • biomarkers and clinical trials

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 2562 KB  
Article
Adding Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy to Chemotherapy in Non-Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Propensity-Matched Cohort Study from a Tertiary Cancer Center
by Mahmoud Al-Masri, Yasmin Safi, Ramiz Kardan, Daliana Mustafa, Ola Ramadan and Rama AlMasri
Cancers 2025, 17(24), 3933; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17243933 - 9 Dec 2025
Viewed by 477
Abstract
Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype with limited targeted treatment options. Immunotherapy has recently emerged as a potential strategy. The addition of pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, as established in the KEYNOTE-522 trial, represents a major advancement in targeted immunotherapy for [...] Read more.
Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype with limited targeted treatment options. Immunotherapy has recently emerged as a potential strategy. The addition of pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, as established in the KEYNOTE-522 trial, represents a major advancement in targeted immunotherapy for TNBC. However, real-world data validating its feasibility and outcomes remain limited. This study aims to evaluate, in real-life settings, the impact of adding pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy on complete pathological response (pCR), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with non-metastatic TNBC. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients treated at King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) between 2015 and 2022. Among 8523 breast cancer cases, 761 were TNBC. Eligible patients had non-metastatic TNBC, received neoadjuvant therapy, and underwent surgery. The immunotherapy group included patients treated with neoadjuvant pembrolizumab (2019–2022); the no-immunotherapy group received standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy (2015–2022). Propensity score matching (1:1, nearest neighbor) was performed based on pre-treatment covariates including age, BMI, clinical stage, comorbidities, smoking, and histopathology. Pathological response, complication rates, RFS, and OS were analyzed using logistic regression and Kaplan–Meier curves with log-rank testing. Results: The matched cohort included 130 patients (65 per group). The study groups’ baseline characteristics were well-balanced between the two groups. Postoperative complication rates were similar across groups, with no significant increase in adverse events observed in the immunotherapy group. The mean lymph node positivity ratio was significantly lower in the immunotherapy group (2.2 ± 7.7 vs. 24.3 ± 33.1, p < 0.001), indicating reduced nodal burden. Pathologic complete response (pCR) was markedly higher with immunotherapy (66.2% vs. 9.2%, p < 0.001). However, survival outcomes were significantly improved with immunotherapy. At three years, RFS was markedly higher in the immunotherapy group (91.8%; 95% CI: 85.0–99.0%) compared to the no-immunotherapy group (53.8%; 95% CI: 42.8–67.8%), with a log-rank p < 0.001. Overall survival also significantly favored the immunotherapy group, with three-year OS of 87.2% versus 67.8% in no-immunotherapy group (p = 0.0015). Conclusions: Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab significantly enhances pathological response, reduces nodal involvement, and provides durable RFS and OS benefits in non-metastatic TNBC without increasing perioperative complications. This study supports incorporating immunotherapy into standard neoadjuvant regimens for TNBC patients and provides real-world evidence from a Middle Eastern tertiary cancer center. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immunotherapy Approaches in Breast Cancer Treatment (2nd Edition))
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