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Breast Cancer Immunotherapy: An Update
Issam Makhoul1, Mohammad Atiq2, Ahmed Alwbari1
1Divisions of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
The immune system plays a major role in cancer surveillance. Harnessing its power to treat many cancers is now a reality that has led to cures in hopeless situations where no other solutions were available from traditional anticancer drugs. These spectacular achievements rekindled the oncology community's interest in extending the benefits to all cancers including breast cancer. The first section of this article reviews the biological foundations of the immune response to different subtypes of breast cancer and the ways cancer may overcome the immune attack leading to cancer disease. The second section is dedicated to the actual immune treatments including breast cancer vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and the "unconventional" immune role of chemotherapy.
The immune system plays a major role in cancer surveillance. Harnessing its power to treat many cancers is now a reality that has led to cures in hopeless situations where no other solutions were available from traditional anticancer drugs. These spectacular achievements rekindled the oncology community's interest in extending the benefits to all cancers including breast cancer. The first section of this article reviews the biological foundations of the immune response to different subtypes of breast cancer and the ways cancer may overcome the immune attack leading to cancer disease. The second section is dedicated to the actual immune treatments including breast cancer vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and the "unconventional" immune role of chemotherapy.
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