Montero AJ, Diaz-Montero CM, Deutsch YE, Hurley J, Koniaris LG, Rumboldt T, Yasir S, Jorda M, Garret-Mayer E, Avisar E, Slingerland J, Silva O, Welsh C, Schuhwerk K, Seo P, Pegram MD, Glück S. Phase 2 study of neoadjuvant treatment with NOV-002 in combination with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel in patients with HER-2 negative clinical stage II-IIIc breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Res Treat 2011;
132:215-23. [PMID:
22138748 DOI:
10.1007/s10549-011-1889-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2011] [Accepted: 11/15/2011] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
NOV-002 (a formulation of disodium glutathione disulfide) modulates signaling pathways involved in tumor cell proliferation and metastasis and enhances anti-tumor immune responsiveness in tumor models. The addition of NOV-002 to chemotherapy has been shown to increase anti-tumor efficacy in animal models and some early phase oncology trials. We evaluated the clinical effects of NOV-002 in primary breast cancer, whether adding NOV-002 to standard preoperative chemotherapy increased pathologic complete response rates (pCR) at surgery, and determined whether NOV-002 mitigated hematologic toxicities of chemotherapy and whether levels of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) were predictive of response. Forty-one women with newly diagnosed stages II-IIIc HER-2 negative breast cancer received doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel (AC → T) every 3 weeks and concurrent daily NOV-002 injections. The trial was powered to detect a doubling of pCR rate from 16 to 32% with NOV-002 plus AC → T (α = 0.05, β = 80%). Weekly complete blood counts were obtained as well as circulating MDSC levels on day 1 of each cycle were quantified. Of 39 patients with 40 evaluable tumors, 15 achieved a pCR (38%), meeting the primary endpoint of the trial. Concurrent NOV-002 resulted in pCR rates for AC → T chemotherapy higher than previously reported. Patients with lower levels of circulating MDSCs at baseline and on the last cycle of chemotherapy had significantly higher probability of a pCR (P = 0.02). Further evaluation of NOV-002 in a randomized study is warranted.
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