Abstract In precision medicine, predicting tumor chemosensitivity is crucial for providing optimal treatment to cancer patients. This study introduces Breast-NEOprAIdict, a deep learning model aimed at predicting pathological complete response (pCR) in early breast cancer (eBC) patients treated with standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). This prediction is based on an analysis of the initial tumor diagnostic biopsy. We used two extensive cohorts (total n = 1140 patients) spanning various molecular subtypes of eBC (HER2-amplified (HER2+), estrogen-receptor positive/HER2 non amplified (ER+/HER2-), and triple-negative (TN) tumors): the PRIMUNEO prospective cohort (n = 500) for training and internal validation and the CGFL Breast Cancer Neoadjuvant database (n = 640) for external validation. Breast-NEOprAIdict demonstrated good performance on the external validation dataset for HER2 + tumors (Area Under the Curve (AUC): 0.652 (P = 0.001), Odds Ratio (OR): 2.42 (P = 0.0131)), ER+/HER2- tumors (AUC: 0.814 (P = 0.003), OR: 20.56 (P = 0.00413)) and TN tumors (AUC: 0.677 (P = 0.001), OR: 3.44 (P = 0.00373)) compared to standard clinicopathological features. We also evaluated the robustness of our algorithm through testing on several scanned sections per patient. Breast-NEOprAIdict exhibited strong consistency in the external validation cohort, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.933 (P < 0.001) for HER2+, 0.932 (P < 0.001) for ER+/HER2- tumors, and 0.939 (P < 0.001) for TN. Breast-NEOprAIdict is a new tool for identifying eBC that are differentially sensitive to standard NAC and could help to select the most appropriate treatment strategy in HER2+, ER+/HER2- and TN eBC.
1079 Background: Bevacizumab (Beva) is no longer unanimously recommended in the management of breast cancer (BC). Given the absence of faithful predictors of Beva treatment outcome, we made the hypothesis that constitutional gene polymorphisms could play a role in this context. We report the pharmacogenetic ancillary study of the prospective COMET trial conducted in advanced BC patients (pts) receiving first-line Beva associated with paclitaxel. Methods: Relevant targeted gene polymorphisms were analyzed (blood) in 203 prospective pts (mean age 55.3, median follow-up 24 months). VEGFA at positions -2578C > A (rs699947), -1498T > C (rs833061), -634G > C (rs2010963), and 936C > T (rs3025039) were analyzed by PCR-RFLP. VEGFR1 319A > C (rs9582036), VEGFR2 at positions 604C > T (rs2071559), 1192C > T (rs2305948), 1416T > A (rs1870377), IL8 251T > A (rs4073), CYP2C8 139C > T (rs1572080), 399T > C (rs10509681) and ABCB1 at positions 1199 C > TA (rs2229109), 2677G > TAC (rs2032582) were analyzed by Mass-Array Agena. ABCB1 1236C > T (rs1128503) and 3435T > C (rs1045642) were analyzed by pyrosequencing. All fitted HWE. Results: Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10.8 months. VEGFR1 319A allele was associated with longer PFS (p = 0.03). The VEGFA-1498T allele was significantly associated with both longer overall survival (OS) (p = 0.005) and PFS (p = 0.065). The VEGFA -2578C allele was associated with greater OS (p = 0.002) and PFS (p = 0.071). These two VEGFA polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium (p < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that VEGFA -2578 (p = 0.001) and VEGFR2 1416 (p = 0.025) were significant predictors of OS: the score of favorable alleles (VEGFA -2575C and VEGFR2 1416T) was highly associated with OS (p = 0.0003), with median survival at 24 months being 30% for score 0 (95%CI 15-61), 65% for score 1 (95%CI 55-75) and 90% for score 2 (95%CI 67-90). Conclusions: Application of an easy-to-perform low-cost genotyping test may identify strong predictors of Beva outcome in metastatic BC pts. In the current era of precision medicine, a pharmacogenetic-based personalized Beva therapy deserves to be prospectively validated in BC pts. Clinical trial information: 2012-A00244-39.
In view of the potential gravity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection for patients with cancer, epidemiological data are vital to assess virus circulation among patients and staff of cancer centres. We performed a prospective study to investigate seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among staff and patients with cancer at a large cancer centre, at the end of the period of first national lockdown in France and to determine factors associated with the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.After the first lockdown, all medical and non-medical staff, as well as all patients attending the medical oncology department were invited to undergo serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 between 11 May and 30 June 2020. All participants were also invited to complete a questionnaire collecting data about their living and working conditions, and for patients, medical management during lockdown.A total of 1,674 subjects (663 staff members, 1011 patients) were included. Seroprevalence was low in both staff (1.8%) and patients (1.7%), despite more features of high risk for severe forms among patients. None of the risk factors tested in our analysis (working or living conditions, comorbidities, management characteristics during lockdown) was found to be statistically associated with seroprevalence in either staff or patients. There was no significant difference in the proportion of symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects between staff and patients. Only fever, loss of smell, and loss of taste were significantly more frequent among seropositive patients, in both staff and patients.We report very low seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the staff (caregiving and non-caregiving) and patients of a large cancer care centre in which strict hygiene, personal protection, and social distancing measures were implemented.
ABSTRACT Exosomes are nanovesicles released by all cells that can be found in the blood. A key point for their use as potential biomarkers in cancer is to differentiate tumour‐derived exosomes from other circulating nanovesicles. Heat shock protein‐70 (HSP70) has been shown to be abundantly expressed by cancer cells and to be associated with bad prognosis. We previously showed that exosomes derived from cancer cells carried HSP70 in the membrane while those from non‐cancerous cells did not. In this work, we opened a prospective clinical pilot study including breast and lung cancer patients to determine whether it was possible to detect and quantify HSP70 exosomes in the blood of patients with solid cancers. We found that circulating exosomal HSP70 levels, but not soluble HSP70, reflected HSP70 content within the tumour biopsies. Circulating HSP70 exosomes increased in metastatic patients compared to non‐metastatic patients or healthy volunteers. Further, we demonstrated that HSP70‐exosome levels correlated with the disease status and, when compared with circulating tumour cells, were more sensitive tumour dissemination predictors. Finally, our case studies indicated that HSP70‐exosome levels inversely correlated with response to the therapy and that, therefore, monitoring changes in circulating exosomal HSP70 might be useful to predict tumour response and clinical outcome.
Loss‑of‑function BRCA mutations are frequent in high‑grade serous ovarian carcinoma. BRCA1 and ‑2 mutations lead to homologous recombination (HR) deficiency. Poly(ADP‑ribose) polymerases (PARP) are enzymes involved in DNA repair. PARP inhibitors (PARPi) lead to DNA damage accumulation in cells deficient in HR. Olaparib (a PARPi) is currently used for the treatment of high‑grade serous ovarian carcinoma with germline or somatic BRCA mutations; however, numerous patients do not respond or eventually develop resistance to these agents. The TP53 gene encodes the p53 protein, which is often referred to as the 'guardian of the genome'. TP53 mutations at diagnosis are known to promote resistance to chemotherapy. In the present study, four cases of patients with BRCA‑mutated cancer treated with olaparib, who progressed following the PARPi treatment, are reported. Exome analyses were performed on a primary tumor biopsy at diagnosis, then on a progressing metastasis following olaparib treatment. Exome analyses following olaparib treatment identified de novo TP53 mutations, as well as increased frequencies of pre‑existing TP53 mutations compared with the primary tumor. In HCT116 TP53‑/‑ cells carrying BRCA2 pathogenic mutations, TP53 inactivating mutations were associated with lower sensitivity to olaparib in vitro. Thus, inactivating TP53 mutations may be associated to olaparib resistance in the presence of BRCA mutations. In conclusion, the present findings demonstrated resistance to PARPi with de novo TP53 mutations that may be clinically relevant. As TP53 mutations are easily detectable with targeted next‑generation sequencing panels, these may serve as surrogate markers for the onset of PARPi resistance in the context of routine patient management strategies.
Abstract Background: Olaparib is a PARP inhibitor that has shown high response rates and clinical activity in patients with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer (BC) and a germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation. There is also evidence of cellular sensitivity to PARP inhibitors associated to defects in other genes involved in homologous recombination DNA repair (HRR) or mismatch repair pathway (microsatellite instability MSI). Moreover, about 15% of patients with ER+/HER2- metastatic BC have at least 100 mutations in their tumor, leading to genomic instability and potential sensitivity to PARP inhibitors. Several preclinical and clinical studies have suggested the benefit of an association of immune checkpoint blockade, like durvalumab, with PARP inhibitor. Indeed, tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations or other deficiency in HRR have high mutagenic burden and produce a larger number of neoantigens. Most BRCA-associated BC are ER+/HER2-. Although loss of the BRCA gene function is a key driver of oncogenesis in these patients, ER-pathway appears to remain a key target for their therapy. Preclinical data indicate that olaparib may enhance endocrine therapy efficacy and circumvent resistance. Therefore, the combination of durvalumab, olaparib and endocrine therapy could be a therapeutic option for patients with BRCA1/2 mutation or for patients with selected ER+/HER2- advanced BC. Trial design: DOLAF is an open-label, international, multicentric, phase II trial assessing the combination of olaparib, fulvestrant, and durvalumab. Olaparib will be administered orally twice daily at 300 mg. Fulvestrant will be administered as two intramuscular injections of 250 mg (Cycle 1 Days 1 and 15, and Day 1 of each subsequent 28-day cycle). Durvalumab will be started 4 weeks after the first dose of olaparib at 1500 mg intravenous every 4 weeks. Eligibility criteria include: ER+/HER2- metastatic or locally advanced BC with documented germline alteration in BRCA1 or BRCA2 or deleterious germline or somatic alterations implicated in the HRR pathway (ATM, BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, CDK12, CHEK1, CHEK2, FANCA, FAND2, FANCL, MRE11A, NBN, PALB2, PPP2R2A, RAD51B, RAD51C, RAD51D and RAD54L) or in MSI status or other actionable genes (AKT1, ESR1, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, and PIK3CA) all based on central tumor next generation DNA sequencing. Patients could have received 1 line of endocrine therapy and/or 1 line of chemotherapy in the metastatic setting.Specific aims: To evaluate the efficacy of the combination in terms of progression-free survival rate at 24 weeks using RECIST v1.1. Secondary endpoints include: safety (according to the NCI-CTCAE v5.0), overall survival, progression-free survival, objective response rate, duration of response in the overall study population and in the germline BRCA mutated population. Statistical methods: Given the lack of safety data from this association, a safety run-in of 6 patients was planned. With an optimum two-stage Simon design,α = 2.5%, β = 5%, p0 (the probability of inefficiency maximum) = 50%, p1 (the probability of minimum efficiency) = 65%, it would be necessary to include 149 evaluable patients. The strategy could be considered sufficiently effective if there are at least 87 successes. According to the established design (including a rate of 5% of patients lost to follow-up or non-evaluable), it will be necessary to include 158 patients. We hypothesized that about 20% of screened patients will have a molecular alteration to allow enrollment. Thus, we need to screen 790 patients. The study is recruiting. The safety run-in is over. By July 1, 2020, 62 patients have been screened and 8 have been treated (NCT04053322). Contact information: DOLAF@unicancer.fr Citation Format: Severine Guiu, Judith Balmana, Lise Roca, Anthony Goncalves, Audrey Mailliez, Frederic Bigot, Thomas Bachelot, Florence Dalenc, Nadine Dohollou, Dominique Genet, Isabelle Desmoulins, Camille Chakiba, Suzette Delaloge, Geraldine Martineau, Veronique Haddad, Philippe Follana. Dolaf- an international multicenter phase 2 trial of durvalumab (medi4736) plus olaparib plus fulvestrant in metastatic or locally advanced er-positive, her2-negative breast cancer patients selected using criteria that predict sensitivity to olaparib (UCBG308) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT-13-05.
