Dr. Graff on Future Research With Immunotherapy in Breast Cancer

Stephanie L. Graff, MD, director of the Breast Program at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute of HCA Midwest Health and associate director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses future research with immunotherapy in breast cancer.

Estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer has not been an area where immunotherapy is often considered, says Graff. However, the earlier patients who have other subtypes, such as triple-negative or HER2-positive disease are treated with this approach, the more robust their response will be, adds Graff.

Future trials should examine immunotherapy in carefully selected patients with hormone receptor–positive disease, says Graff. Going forward, efforts should focus on understanding how other genetic and genomic risk profiles impact treatment decisions, and likely other lines of therapy will be moved up into the earlier-phase setting, concludes Graff.