Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States.
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States.
Front Immunol. 2024 Mar 12;15:1302587. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1302587. eCollection 2024.
The breast cancer tumor microenvironment (TME) is dynamic, with various immune and non-immune cells interacting to regulate tumor progression and anti-tumor immunity. It is now evident that the cells within the TME significantly contribute to breast cancer progression and resistance to various conventional and newly developed anti-tumor therapies. Both immune and non-immune cells in the TME play critical roles in tumor onset, uncontrolled proliferation, metastasis, immune evasion, and resistance to anti-tumor therapies. Consequently, molecular and cellular components of breast TME have emerged as promising therapeutic targets for developing novel treatments. The breast TME primarily comprises cancer cells, stromal cells, vasculature, and infiltrating immune cells. Currently, numerous clinical trials targeting specific TME components of breast cancer are underway. However, the complexity of the TME and its impact on the evasion of anti-tumor immunity necessitate further research to develop novel and improved breast cancer therapies. The multifaceted nature of breast TME cells arises from their phenotypic and functional plasticity, which endows them with both pro and anti-tumor roles during tumor progression. In this review, we discuss current understanding and recent advances in the pro and anti-tumoral functions of TME cells and their implications for developing safe and effective therapies to control breast cancer progress.
乳腺癌肿瘤微环境（TME）是动态的，各种免疫和非免疫细胞相互作用，调节肿瘤的进展和抗肿瘤免疫。现在很明显，TME 中的细胞对乳腺癌的进展和对各种传统和新开发的抗肿瘤疗法的耐药性有重要贡献。TME 中的免疫和非免疫细胞在肿瘤发生、失控增殖、转移、免疫逃逸和对抗肿瘤治疗的耐药性中都起着关键作用。因此，乳腺 TME 的分子和细胞成分已成为开发新治疗方法的有前途的治疗靶点。乳腺 TME 主要由癌细胞、基质细胞、血管和浸润的免疫细胞组成。目前，针对乳腺癌特定 TME 成分的许多临床试验正在进行中。然而，TME 的复杂性及其对抗肿瘤免疫逃逸的影响需要进一步的研究，以开发新的和改进的乳腺癌治疗方法。乳腺 TME 细胞的多方面性质源于其表型和功能的可塑性，这使它们在肿瘤进展过程中具有促肿瘤和抗肿瘤的作用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了 TME 细胞的促肿瘤和抗肿瘤功能的现有理解和最新进展，以及它们对开发安全有效的治疗方法来控制乳腺癌进展的意义。
