Emanuela Risi1,2, Andrea Grilli3, Ilenia Migliaccio4, Chiara Biagioni5, Amelia McCartney6, Cristina Guarducci4, Martina Bonechi4, Matteo Benelli6, Stefania Vitale6,7, Laura Biganzoli6, Silvio Bicciato3, Angelo Di Leo6, Luca Malorni6,4. 1. Sandro Pitigliani Medical Oncology Department, Hospital of Prato, Istituto Toscano Tumori, via Suor Niccolina Infermiera 20, 59100, Prato, Italy. emanuela.risi@uslcentro.toscana.it. 2. Sandro Pitigliani Translational Research Unit, Hospital of Prato, Istituto Toscano Tumori, via Suor Niccolina Infermiera 20, 59100, Prato, Italy. emanuela.risi@uslcentro.toscana.it. 3. Department of Life Science, Center for Genome Research, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. 4. Sandro Pitigliani Translational Research Unit, Hospital of Prato, Istituto Toscano Tumori, via Suor Niccolina Infermiera 20, 59100, Prato, Italy. 5. Bioinformatics Unit, Hospital of Prato, via Suor Niccolina Infermiera 20, 59100, Prato, Italy. 6. Sandro Pitigliani Medical Oncology Department, Hospital of Prato, Istituto Toscano Tumori, via Suor Niccolina Infermiera 20, 59100, Prato, Italy. 7. Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancers show heterogeneous response to chemotherapy, with the ER-positive (ER+) subgroup deriving less benefit. Loss of retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (RB1) function has been suggested as a cardinal feature of breast cancers that are more sensitive to chemotherapy and conversely resistant to CDK4/6 inhibitors. We performed a retrospective analysis exploring RBsig, a gene signature of RB loss, as a potential predictive marker of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in ER+/HER2+ breast cancer patients. METHODS: We selected clinical trials of neoadjuvant chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 therapy in HER2+ breast cancer patients with available information on gene expression data, hormone receptor status, and pathological complete response (pCR) rates. RBsig expression was computed in silico and correlated with pCR. RESULTS: Ten studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis (514 patients). Overall, of 211 ER+/HER2+ breast cancer patients, 49 achieved pCR (23%). The pCR rate following chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 drugs in patients with RBsig low expression was significantly lower compared to patients with RBsig high expression (16% vs. 30%, respectively; Fisher's exact test p = 0.015). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.62 (p = 0.005). In the 303 ER-negative (ER-)/HER2+ patients treated with chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 drugs, the pCR rate was 43%. No correlation was found between RBsig expression and pCR rate in this group. CONCLUSIONS: Low expression of RBsig identifies a subset of ER+/HER2+ patients with low pCR rates following neoadjuvant chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 therapy. These patients may potentially be spared chemotherapy in favor of anti-HER2, endocrine therapy, and CDK 4/6 inhibitor combinations.
PURPOSE:HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancers show heterogeneous response to chemotherapy, with the ER-positive (ER+) subgroup deriving less benefit. Loss of retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (RB1) function has been suggested as a cardinal feature of breast cancers that are more sensitive to chemotherapy and conversely resistant to CDK4/6 inhibitors. We performed a retrospective analysis exploring RBsig, a gene signature of RB loss, as a potential predictive marker of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in ER+/HER2+ breast cancerpatients. METHODS: We selected clinical trials of neoadjuvant chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 therapy in HER2+ breast cancerpatients with available information on gene expression data, hormone receptor status, and pathological complete response (pCR) rates. RBsig expression was computed in silico and correlated with pCR. RESULTS: Ten studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis (514 patients). Overall, of 211 ER+/HER2+ breast cancerpatients, 49 achieved pCR (23%). The pCR rate following chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 drugs in patients with RBsig low expression was significantly lower compared to patients with RBsig high expression (16% vs. 30%, respectively; Fisher's exact test p = 0.015). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.62 (p = 0.005). In the 303 ER-negative (ER-)/HER2+ patients treated with chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 drugs, the pCR rate was 43%. No correlation was found between RBsig expression and pCR rate in this group. CONCLUSIONS: Low expression of RBsig identifies a subset of ER+/HER2+ patients with low pCR rates following neoadjuvant chemotherapy ± anti-HER2 therapy. These patients may potentially be spared chemotherapy in favor of anti-HER2, endocrine therapy, and CDK 4/6 inhibitor combinations.
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