by Keyword: Her2-positive breast-cancer
Rivas, Elisa I., Linares, Jenniffer, Zwick, Melissa, Gómez-Llonin, Andrea, Guiu, Marc, Labernadie, Anna, Badia-Ramentol, Jordi, Lladó, Anna, Bardia, Lídia, Pérez-Núñez, Iván, Martínez-Ciarpaglini, Carolina, Tarazona, Noelia, Sallent-Aragay, Anna, Garrido, Marta, Celià-Terrassa, Toni, Burgués, Octavio, Gomis, Roger R., Albanell, Joan, Calon, Alexandre, (2022). Targeted immunotherapy against distinct cancer-associated fibroblasts overcomes treatment resistance in refractory HER2+ breast tumors Nature Communications 13, 5310 
About 50% of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)+ breast cancer patients do not benefit from HER2-targeted therapy and almost 20% of them relapse after treatment. Here, we conduct a detailed analysis of two independent cohorts of HER2+ breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance to anti-HER2 monoclonal antibodies. In addition, we develop a fully humanized immunocompetent model of HER2+ breast cancer recapitulating ex vivo the biological processes that associate with patients’ response to treatment. Thanks to these two approaches, we uncover a population of TGF-beta-activated cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) specific from tumors resistant to therapy. The presence of this cellular subset related to previously described myofibroblastic (CAF-S1) and podoplanin+ CAF subtypes in breast cancer associates with low IL2 activity. Correspondingly, we find that stroma-targeted stimulation of IL2 pathway in unresponsive tumors restores trastuzumab anti-cancer efficiency. Overall, our study underscores the therapeutic potential of exploiting the tumor microenvironment to identify and overcome mechanisms of resistance to anti-cancer treatment.
JTD Keywords: activation, cells, efficacy, enrichment analysis, expression, infiltrating lymphocytes, survival, therapy, trastuzumab, Her2-positive breast-cancer
