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William J. Gradishar, MD, FACP, FASCO
William J. Gradishar, MD, FACP, FASCO
Posted: Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has improved the rates of pathologic complete response in HER2-positive and triple-negative subtypes of breast cancer. However, the impact of using new agents such as the monoclonal antibody pertuzumab and PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab on response and biomarker profiles has been unclear. Based on a plenary session presented at the 2024 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 5), Julia Tchou, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, Wayne, and colleagues, demonstrated the need for biomarker profile retesting in patients with residual disease and HER2-positive tumors.
“Investigations on whether biomarker profile change after neoadjuvant chemotherapy is associated with differential outcomes or impact of adjuvant therapy is ongoing,” commented Dr. Tchou and colleagues.
The study encompassed a total of 779 patients with nonmetastatic breast carcinoma. All patients were previously treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Additional analyses were performed on the 283 patients who had biomarker profiles before neoadjuvant chemotherapy and residual invasive disease. Patients were stratified based on their hormone receptor (HR) and HER2 status as HR-positive, HER2-positive (group A); HR-positive, HER2-negative (group B); HR-negative, HER2-positive (group C); or HR-negative, HER2-negative (group D).
The study authors reported a pathologic complete response rate of 40.3% within the entire cohort of patients. In addition, of the 283 patients who underwent repeat biomarker profile testing, a change in biomarker profile was observed in 18.7% of patients. The specific rate changes in the biomarker profile were 36.1% for group A, 14.5% for group B, 50.0% for group C, and 9.2% for group D. Furthermore, patients with HER2-positive status demonstrated the largest number of changes in their biomarker profile.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit sso2024.eventscribe.net.
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