An expression signature of 19 human endogenous retroviruses identifies immunogenic luminal breast cancers likely to respond to immunotherapy - Takeaways - MDSpire

An expression signature of 19 human endogenous retroviruses identifies immunogenic luminal breast cancers likely to respond to immunotherapy

  • By

  • Silvia Mihaela Ilie

  • Julie Lecuelle

  • François Ghiringhelli

  • Caroline Truntzer

  • Sylvain Ladoire

  • June 16, 2026

  • 0 min

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  • 1

    Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) represent approximately 8% of the human genome and can be re-expressed in cancer cells.

  • 2

    The study identified a signature of 19 HERVs associated with tumor immunogenicity in early breast cancer (eBC) subtypes.

  • 3

    Overall HERV tumor load varies little among different eBC subtypes and does not impact tumor immunogenicity.

  • 4

    The 'Breast HERV19' signature correlates with better prognosis in HR+HER2− eBC and is linked to biomarkers of immunotherapy sensitivity.

  • 5

    The findings suggest that the 'Breast HERV19' expression signature may help identify HR+HER2− tumors likely to respond to immunotherapy.

Original Source(s)

An expression signature of 19 human endogenous retroviruses identifies immunogenic luminal breast cancers likely to respond to immunotherapy

  • by Silvia Mihaela Ilie, Julie Lecuelle, François Ghiringhelli, Caroline Truntzer, Sylvain Ladoire

  • June 16, 2026

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