Mucin 4 expression is associated with metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer and can be tackled by soluble TNF blockade, improving immunotherapy outcome.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has the worst prognosis among breast cancers. Immunotherapy is a therapeutic option, but there is no biomarker to guide promising combination treatments. Mucin 4 (MUC4) favors metastasis in preclinical cancer models. This study evaluates the efficacy of soluble TNF (sTNF) neutralization to tackle MUC4 expression preventing metastasis in combination with immunotherapy, and the potential use of MUC4 as a prognostic and predictive biomarker in TNBC patients.

Experimental design

To explore TNF modulation of MUC4 expression, a panel of TNBC cell lines was used. To assess the effect of sTNF blockade with a dominant negative molecule in combination with anti-PD-1 antibody on lung metastasis and overall survival (OS), 4T1 and LMM3 tumors

SUBMITTER: Mauro F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11904514 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature