Baseline T cell dysfunction by single cell network profiling in metastatic breast cancer patients

Background We previously reported the results of a multicentric prospective randomized trial of chemo-refractory metastatic breast cancer patients testing the efficacy of two doses of TGFβ blockade during radiotherapy. Despite a lack of objective responses to the combination, patients who received a higher dose of TGFβ blocking antibody fresolimumab had a better overall survival when compared to those assigned to lower dose (hazard ratio of 2.73, p = 0.039). They also demonstrated an improved peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) counts and increase in the CD8 central memory pool. We performed additional analysis on residual PBMC using single cell network profiling (SCNP).