Effects of pregnancy on breast cancer immunology: immune biomarker and TIL quantification
Breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy (PrBC) is a rare occurrence but may become more prevalent as women nowadays tend to postpone childbearing until later in life. Further understanding of how pregnancy affects the tumor microenvironment (TME) is essential. We constructed Tissue Microarrays (TMA) of tumor specimens from 126 pregnant breast cancer (BC) patients and examined standard BC markers such as ER, PR, Ki67, HER2, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and immunomarkers HLA class I, HLA-G, PD-L1, TIGIT and Nectin-4. Subsequently, we compared our findings with those from a matched non-pregnant cohort of young BC patients. Pregnant BC patients were younger, had significantly higher proliferation rates and a higher expression of Nectin-4. Higher pregnancy related estrogen levels may boost proliferation und Nectin-4 overexpression, promoting BC progression. No further evidence supporting impaired maternal anti-tumor response in BC was observed in this study.
Authors
- Julia Rey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1801-0429)
- Johannes Holtschmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2723-1154)
- Marion van Mackelenbergh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1084-5897)
- Frederik Marmé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6591-3367)
- Sabine Seiler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8539-033X)
- Elmar Stickeler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9715-7260)
- Peter A. Fasching (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4885-8471)
- Christine Solbach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8284-3199)
- Anne‐Sophie Litmeyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4710-6746)
- Isabell Witzel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8734-4521)
- Thomas Karn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3264-6573)
- Paul Jank (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7076-0476)
- Christian Schem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8606-3077)
- Carsten Denkert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2249-0982)
- Moritz Gleitsmann
- Olaf Ortmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6238-3949)
- Kristin Galas
- Bruno V. Sinn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1257-9799)
- Valentina Nekljudova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2801-7387)
- Sabine Schmatloch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0131-7515)
- Sibylle Loibl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6488-4958)
- Volkmar Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6386-0900)
- Andreas Schneeweis
Institutions
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Philipps University of Marburg (DE)
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- University Hospital Heidelberg (DE)
- University Hospital Regensburg (DE)
- Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (DE)
- Düsseldorf University Hospital (DE)
- Klinik für Frauenheilkunde (DE)
- Marienkrankenhaus Kassel (DE)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (DE)
- University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (DE)
- Universitätsklinikum Aachen (DE)
- Mammazentrum Hamburg (DE)
- German Breast group (DE)
- University Hospital Frankfurt (DE)
- Pathodiagnostik Berlin (DE)
- University Medical Centre Mannheim (DE)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- University of Lübeck (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Breast Cancer
- Published
- 2025-05-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-025-00758-3
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Reproductive System and Pregnancy
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.80
Funders
- European Society for Medical Oncology