scholarly journals A Proposal to Redefine Pathologic Complete Remission as Endpoint following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Early Breast Cancer

Breast Care ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-71
Author(s):  
Mircea Dediu ◽  
Christoph Zielinski

Many analyses of the efficacy of neoadjuvant treatment (NAT) for early breast cancer including a meta-analysis derived from 10 randomized trials came to the conclusion that patients who would achieve pathologic complete response (pCR) following NAT would experience significant improvement in disease-free and overall survival (OS). Thus, pCR was proposed as a surrogate endpoint for OS, with pCR representing a robust prognostic marker for survival at an individual level. In the current analysis, we argue that OS following NAT-induced pCR might have reflected the initial prognosis of patients mainly defined – among other factors – by the initial pathological lymph node status while being largely independent on the type of administrated treatment, thus pleading against the pCR surrogacy hypothesis. We therefore propose to redefine pCR as a surrogate endpoint of NAT trials by the involvement of additional biologic parameters.

2021 ◽  
pp. 030089162110626
Author(s):  
Elena Guerini-Rocco ◽  
Gerardo Botti ◽  
Maria Pia Foschini ◽  
Caterina Marchiò ◽  
Mauro Giuseppe Mastropasqua ◽  
...  

Pathologic evaluation of early breast cancer after neoadjuvant therapy is essential to provide prognostic information based on tumor response to treatment (pathologic complete response [pCR] or non-pCR) and to inform therapy decisions after surgery. To harmonize the pathologist’s handling of surgical specimens after neoadjuvant therapy, a panel of experts in breast cancer convened to developed a consensus on six main topics: (1) definition of pCR, (2) required clinical information, (3) gross examination and sampling, (4) microscopic examination, (5) evaluation of lymph node status, and (6) staging of residual breast tumor. The resulting consensus statements reported in this document highlight the role of an accurate evaluation of tumor response and define the minimum requirements to standardize the assessment of breast cancer specimens after neoadjuvant therapy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Foluso O. Ademuyiwa ◽  
Matthew J. Ellis ◽  
Cynthia X. Ma

Systemic treatment for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC: negative for the expression of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor and HER2 amplification) has been limited to chemotherapy options. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy induces tumor shrinkage and improves the surgical outcomes of patients with locally advanced disease and also identifies those at high risk of disease relapse despite today’s standard of care. By using pathologic complete response as a surrogate endpoint, novel treatment strategies can be efficiently assessed. Tissue analysis in the neoadjuvant setting is also an important research tool for the identification of chemotherapy resistance mechanisms and new therapeutic targets. In this paper, we review data on completed and ongoing neoadjuvant clinical trials in patients with TNBC and discuss treatment controversies that face clinicians and researchers when neoadjuvant chemotherapy is employed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e11534-e11534
Author(s):  
Fatma Sen ◽  
Ekrem Yavuz ◽  
Gulcin Yegen ◽  
Hasan Karanlik ◽  
Sitki Tuzlali ◽  
...  

e11534 Background: Our aim was to investigate potential correlation between expression levels of Nijmegen breakage syndrome1 (NBS1) protein and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) and pathologic complete response (pCR) rate to neoadjuvant treatment in locally advanced HER2+ breast cancer. We also assess possible association between NBS1 and PI3K expressions. Methods: Totally 42 patients (median age 49 years), received neoadjuvant treatment due to locally advanced HER2+ breast cancer, were included. Immunohistochemical analyses were performed on paraffin sections, obtained during initial diagnosis. Paraffin sections were stained with anti-NBS1 (P95-NBS1 antibody, Y112, ab32074) and anti-PI3K (PI3-Kinase p85 alpha+gamma antibody, ab741369) antibodies to determine positivity of related proteins. Results: NBS1 protein loss was detected in 19 (%45) patients whereas p85 loss was shown in 25 (%60). There was no initial clinicopathologic variable predicting pCR. Fifteen of 30 patients, received neoadjuvant trastuzumab, had pCR, whereas only 1 of 12 patients, not received trastuzumab, achieved pCR (P = 0.012). p85 loss did not predict treatment response, however NBS1 protein expression positively correlated with increased response rate to neoadjuvant treatment (P = 0.007). Conclusions: NBS1 protein expression associates with increased pCR rate in HER2+ breast cancer. However, P85 positivity did not associate with pCR rate or NBS1 overexpression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18111-e18111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Jing Li ◽  
Hsiao Ching Li ◽  
Ang Gao ◽  
Samira K. Syed ◽  
Nisha Unni ◽  
...  

e18111 Background: The addition of pertuzumab (P) to a neoadjuvant trastuzumab (H) plus chemotherapy combination has been shown to significantly improve the pathologic complete response rate (pCR) in localized HER2+ breast cancer; however, minorities have been under-represented in these trials. Racial/ethnic disparities have also been shown to affect outcomes of cancer treatment. This study is aimed to assess the impact of neoadjuvant dual HER2-blockade in an unselected minority-enriched population. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted of women with stage I to III HER2+ breast cancer who received neoadjuvant treatment between 2007 and 2017 at an academic institution and its affiliated safety net health system. Data on stage, chemotherapy, race/ethnicity, site of therapy (academic vs safety net hospital), and hormone receptor status were collected. All patients underwent surgery after completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. pCR was defined as ypT0/is, ypN0. Chi-squared test and univariate/multivariate logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: The study population included 261 women with the following race/ethnic distribution: 37.7% Non-Hispanic Whites, 34.6% Hispanics, 20.6% Blacks, and 7% other racial/ethnic origin. Ninety-five patients (36%) received chemotherapy-H vs 166 patients (64%) received chemotherapy-HP. Patients at the safety net health system had higher stage at diagnosis compared to the academic site. Site of care and race/ethnicity did not impact the choice of neoadjuvant treatment. The pCR rate was significantly higher for the chemotherapy-HP group (55.4%) compared to the chemotherapy-H group (34.7%) (p = 0.001). There was no association between race/ethnicity, or site of treatment (academic vs safety net), and the probability of achieving pCR. Multivariate analysis showed only dual anti-HER2 therapy (OR: 2.67, CI: 1.55-4.59, p = 0.0004) and hormone-receptor negative status (OR: 2.18, CI: 1.30-3.67, p = 0.0031) to correlate with pCR. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant dual anti-HER2 therapy was more likely to result in a pCR in our minority enriched population. Our data also suggests the combination of chemotherapy-HP confers similar benefit irrespective of race/ethnicity or site of care.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e12655-e12655
Author(s):  
Agnieszka I. Jagiello-Gruszfeld ◽  
Izabela Lemanska ◽  
Renata Sienkiewicz ◽  
Ewa Szombara ◽  
Roman Dubianski ◽  
...  

e12655 Background: Pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for breast cancer predicts the risk of recurrence and increasingly may indicate the need for additional therapy postoperatively. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in two cohorts of patients (pts) treated with docetaxel, trastuzumab and carboplatin (TCH) or with docetaxel, carboplatin and dual blockade (TCH-P) in the neoadjuvant setting in patients with early breast cancer (tumor size < 50 mm and > 10 mm and cN0 or cN1) in our Clinic, and who had definitive surgery was conducted. Demographic data, size, grade, tumor type, receptor status prior to neoadjuvant treatment, pathological complete response (pCR) rates, and adverse effects were analyzed. The pCR was defined as ypT0 ypN0. Results: Patient in cohort A (n = 58) received TCH x 6 cycles and in cohort B (n = 25) TCH-P x 6 cycles. Median age was 51 (range 23 to 76 years) in cohort A and 46 (range: 30-68) in cohort B. In cohort A 37 (64%) of pts was HR-positive, in cohort B only 9 (36%) pts . The most common adverse events in both groups were neutropenia, diarrhea, chemotherapy induced polyneuropathy and febrile neutropenia. There are no significant differences in the frequency of adverse events in two cohorts. There was no symptomatic heart failure, but 6 pts (10%) in cohort A and 5 pts (16%) in cohort B had > 10% asymptomatic decrease in LVEF. All patients were evaluable for pCR. Higher rates of pCR were achieved in the HER2pos/HRneg pts: 66% (n = 14) in cohort A, and 87% (n = 14) in cohort B. In group HER2pos/HRpos pts, the pCR rate was 48% (n = 18) vs 55% (n = 5) respectively. Conclusions: In HER2positive early breast cancer, a dual blockade (trastuzumab and pertuzumab) together with carboplatin and docetaxel neoadjuvant chemotherapy achieved higher rates of pCR ( 76%) compared with pts treated with trastuzumab, carboplatin and docetaxel (56%). However, a much higher percentage of pCR was observed in the group of patients with non-luminal cancers, who received a double blockade (87% vs 66%).


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