Abstract
Hormone receptor (HR)(+) breast cancer (BC) causes most BC-related deaths, calling for improved therapeutic approaches. Despite expectations, immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) are poorly active in patients with HR(+) BC, in part reflecting the lack of preclinical models that recapitulate disease progression in immunocompetent hosts.
We demonstrate that mammary tumors driven by medroxyprogesterone acetate (M) and 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (D) recapitulate several key features of human luminal B HR(+)HER2(-) BC, including limited immune infiltration and poor sensitivity to ICBs. M/D-driven oncogenesis is accelerated by immune defects, demonstrating that M/D-driven tumors are under immunosurveillance.
Safe nutritional measures including nicotinamide (NAM) supplementation efficiently delay M/D-driven oncogenesis by reactivating immunosurveillance. NAM also mediates immunotherapeutic effects against established M/D-driven and transplantable BC, largely reflecting increased type I interferon secretion by malignant cells and direct stimulation of immune effector cells.
Our findings identify NAM as a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of HR(+) BC.