Yirong Xu,1,2,* Bingchen Zhang,3,* Hongyuan Wu,2,4,* Yifen Wu1 

1The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510000, People’s Republic of China; 2Cancer Center, The Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People’s Hospital), Southern Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523059, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dongguan Institute of Clinical Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, The Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People’s Hospital), Dongguan, Guangdong, 523059, People’s Republic of China; 4Dongguan Institute of Clinical Cancer Research, Dongguan Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis and Treatment for Tumors, The Tenth Affiliated Hospital, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University (Dongguan People’s Hospital), Dongguan, Guangdong, 523059, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Yifen Wu, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510000, People’s Republic of China, Tel +8613423158632, Email 31200195@smu.edu.cn

Abstract: Breast cancer, being the most common type of cancer globally, stands out as the primary malignant tumor affecting females. With the advent of breast cancer immunotherapy, inhibitors targeting immune checkpoints such as anti-PD-1 (Programmed cell death protein 1) / PD-L1 (Programmed cell death-Ligand 1) and CTLA-4 (Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte-Associated Antigen-4) have demonstrated promising outcomes for breast cancer patients across all molecular subtypes, particularly those with advanced breast cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Our current focus lies in accurately predicting the prognosis of breast cancer patients and the effectiveness of immunotherapy. This article provides a review of emerging biomarkers for breast cancer, encompassing immune-related markers, metabolic indicators, and potential prognosis-related markers. The primary emphasis of the article is to review immune-related tumor biomarkers in breast cancer. Our goal is to summarize relevant studies capable of forecasting breast cancer prognosis and immunotherapy effectiveness. Lastly, we delve into the future directions of breast cancer immunotherapy development.

Keywords: breast cancer, immunotherapy, markers, prognosis