Immunologically cold triple negative breast cancers engraft at a higher rate in patient derived xenografts

TNBC is a heterogeneous subtype of breast cancer, and only a subset of TNBC can be established as PDXs. Here, we show that there is an engraftment bias toward TNBC with low levels of immune cell infiltration. Additionally, TNBC that failed to engraft show gene expression consistent with a cancer-promoting immunological state, leading us to hypothesize that the immunological state of the tumor and possibly the state of the immune system of the host may be essential for engraftment.

Automated summary

TNBC is a heterogeneous subtype of breast cancer, and only a subset of TNBC can be established as PDXs. Our study suggests that there is a preferential engraftment bias towards TNBC with low levels of immune cell infiltration, and TNBC that failed to engraft exhibits gene expression consistent with a cancer-promoting immunological state, indicating the potential importance of tumor immunological state and host immune system state for engraftment.