"Reflecting on our Phase II study, one breast cancer patient in particular stands out: a woman in her seventies who had declined further chemotherapy, but was still scheduled for surgery. Before the operation, she received four weeks of immunotherapy and then went on vacation. Upon her return, it was time for new scans, which looked completely different. At the time of surgery, we found only immune cells: the tumor was completely gone. For a long time, we believed that immunotherapy wouldn’t work for breast cancer, but Marleen Kok, one of my co-promotors, thought otherwise. And she was right, at least for a small group of people with triple-negative breast cancer. This is an aggressive form of breast cancer that tends to affect younger women. A small number of these patients responds exceptionally well to immunotherapy. Not all patients in our study had such positive outcomes, unfortunately. One woman experienced very severe side effects from the treatment. That’s why we need further research: to better understand these side effects and to predict which patients are likely to benefit from the treatment. There are alternative treatment options available for the patients who are less likely to respond. I’m now training to become a pathology specialist at Amsterdam UMC."
Iris Nederlof will defend her thesis on June 11.
Research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute is financially supported by KWF Dutch Cancer Society.
Immune infiltration and activation in breast tumors
prof. dr. M.J. (Marc) van de Vijver
dr. M. (Marleen) Kok & dr. H.M. (Hugo) Horlings