Clinico-Immunological Profile of a 67-Year-Old Woman Affected by HER2-Positive Breast Cancer and Autoimmune Dermatomyositis

Overview

Journal Front Oncol

Specialty Oncology

Date 2020 Mar 12

PMID 32158689

Citations 3

Authors

Benedetta Pellegrino

Giulia Mazzaschi

Denise Madeddu

Cristina Mori

Costanza Anna Maria Lagrasta

Gabriele Missale

Federico Quaini

Antonino Musolino

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

A patient with HER2-positive early breast cancer (BC) developed dermatomyositis (DM), which disappeared after the first administration of adjuvant trastuzumab. No HER2 overexpression/amplification was observed in DM skin biopsies. Both BC and skin immune infiltrates were composed mostly of CD3+ T-lymphocytes. Interestingly, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes expressed PD-1, which was negligible in skin-infiltrating lymphocytes, while both BC cells and keratinocytes were PD-L1-positive. High serum levels of endogenous anti-HER2 antibodies were detected, confirming the induction of a HER2-specific adaptive immune response. It may be argued that HER2-specific T-lymphocytes cross-reacted with one or more unknown skin antigens, causing DM. Trastuzumab may have silenced skin cross-reaction by eliminating any residual HER2-positive micrometastatic disease and, thus, inducing DM remission.

Citing Articles

Association Between Anti-TIF1-γ Antibody and Triple-Negative Breast Carcinoma in Dermatomyositis Patients: A Case Report.

Zhang F, Guo H, Ma J Clin Case Rep. 2025; 13(2):e70157.

PMID: 39935654 PMC: 11811392. DOI: 10.1002/ccr3.70157.

Remarkable remission of symptomatic dermatomyositis after curative breast cancer surgery.

Fujino M, Kawashima M, Yoshifuji H, Nakashima R, Yamada Y, Matsumoto Y Int Cancer Conf J. 2024; 13(2):111-118.

PMID: 38524641 PMC: 10957833. DOI: 10.1007/s13691-023-00646-2.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer with Dermatomyositis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Chen X, Chen A, Liu C, Zhang B Cancer Manag Res. 2022; 14:569-576.

PMID: 35210854 PMC: 8857951. DOI: 10.2147/CMAR.S349400.

A Case of Pathological Complete Response and Resolution of Dermatomyositis Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer.

Piras M, Panebianco M, Garibaldi M, Roberto M, Merlonghi G, Pellegrini P Curr Oncol. 2021; 28(3):1957-1961.

PMID: 34073827 PMC: 8161769. DOI: 10.3390/curroncol28030182.

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