Exploring the Combined Action of Adding Pertuzumab to Branded Trastuzumab versus Trastuzumab Biosimilars for Treating HER2+ Breast Cancer

The binding activity of various trastuzumab biosimilars versus the branded trastuzumab towards the glycosylated extracellular domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) target in the presence of pertuzumab was investigated. We employed size exclusion chromatography with tetra-detection methodology to simultaneously determine absolute molecular weight, concentration, molecular size, and intrinsic viscosity. All trastuzumab molecules in solution exhibit analogous behavior in their binary action towards HER2 regardless of the order of addition of trastuzumab/pertuzumab. This analogous behavior of all trastuzumab molecules, including biosimilars, highlights the robustness and consistency of their binding activity towards HER2. Furthermore, the addition of HER2 to a mixture of trastuzumab and pertuzumab leads to increased formation of high-order HER2 complexes, up to concentrations of one order of magnitude higher than in the case of sequential addition. The observed increase suggests a potential synergistic effect between these antibodies, which could enhance their therapeutic efficacy in HER2-positive cancers. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the complex interplay between therapeutic antibodies and their target antigens, providing valuable insights for the development of more effective treatment strategies.

Analysis of tumor infiltrating CD4+ and CD8+ CDR3 sequences reveals shared features putatively associated to the anti-tumor immune response

Introduction

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have predictive and prognostic value in breast cancer (BC) and exert a protective function against tumor growth, indicating that it is susceptible to treatment using adoptive cell transfer of TILs or T cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies. TCR can be used to identify naturally tumor-reactive T cells, but little is known about the differences in the TCR repertoires of CD4+ and CD8+ TILs.

Methods

TCR high-throughput sequencing was performed using TILs derived from the initial cultures of 11 BC biopsies and expanded and sorted CD4+ and CD8+ TILs as well as using PBMCs from healthy donors expanded and sorted using the same methodology.

Results

Physicochemical TCR differences between T cell subsets were observed, as CD4+ TILs presented larger N(D)Nnt TRB sequences and with a higher usage of positively charged residues, although only the latest was also observed in peripheral T cells from healthy individuals. Moreover, in CD4+ TILs, a more restricted TCR repertoire with a higher abundance of similar sequences containing certain amino acid motifs was observed.

Discussion

Some differences between CD4+ and CD8+ TCRs were intrinsic to T cell subsets as can also be observed in peripheral T cells from healthy individuals, while other were only found in TILs samples and therefore may be tumor-driven. Notably, the higher similarity among CD4+ TCRs suggests a higher TCR promiscuity in this subset.

Abstract PD7-02: Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in patients with Unstable Central Nervous System Involvement from HER2-Low Advanced Breast Cancer: The DEBBRAH Trial

Background: The antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) significantly improved survival outcomes of HER2-low advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients (pts) compared to standard chemotherapy in the DESTINY-Breast04 trial. DEBBRAH is assessing the efficacy and safety of T-DXd in HER2[+] and HER2-low ABC pts with a history of brain metastases (BM) and/or leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC); here, we report results of HER-low ABC pts. Methods: DEBBRAH (NCT04420598) is a multicenter, open-label, five-cohort, non-comparative, phase 2 study across 18 hospitals in 2 countries. A total of 39 pts aged ≥18 years with pretreated HER2[+] or HER2-low ABC with stable, progressing, or untreated BM and/or LMC, were enrolled in 5 cohorts: (1) HER2[+] ABC with non-progressing BM after radiotherapy and/or surgery; (2) HER2[+] or HER2-low ABC with asymptomatic untreated BM; (3) HER2[+] ABC with progressing BM after local treatment; (4) HER2-low ABC with progressing BM after local treatment; (5) HER2[+] or HER2-low ABC with LMC. Pts received 5.4 mg/kg T-DXd intravenously once every 21 days until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or consent withdrawal. Primary endpoint for cohorts 2 and 4 was intracranial overall response rate (ORR-IC) according to RANO-BM. Secondary endpoints included overall response (ORR) according to RECIST v1.1, progression-free survival (PFS), duration of response (DoR), clinical benefit rate (CBR); and safety and tolerability as per NCI-CTCAE v.5.0. Primary analysis is the estimation of ORR-IC (H0: ORR-IC ≤5%; H1: ORR-IC ≥40%) based on the one-sided binomial exact test. Sample size was planned to attain an 80% power at a nominal α level of 0.05 in each cohort. Results from cohort 2 should be considered descriptive since formal testing has to be performed in the whole cohort of pts with HER2[+] or HER2-low ABC and asymptomatic untreated BM. Results: From Oct 23, 2020, through Feb 15, 2022, 6 pts and 7 pts were allocated into cohorts 2 and 4, respectively. One patient with LMC included in cohort 4 was excluded from analysis. Median age was 54 (range 40–73) years. Median number of previous lines of therapy for advanced disease was 7 (range, 4-8) and 3 (range, 2-4) for cohorts 2 and 4, respectively. Median follow-up was 9.5 months (range, 1.6-15.7). At data cutoff (Apr 29, 2022), no patient of cohort 2 and 3 (50.0%) pts of cohort 4 remained on therapy. In cohort 2, ORR-IC was 66.7% (4 of 6 pts had intracranial partial response [PR]; 95% CI, 22.3–95.7). In cohort 4, ORR-IC was 33.3% meeting the primary endpoint (2 of 6 pts had intracranial PR; 95% CI, 4.3–77.7; P = .033). Overall, ORR-IC in all pts was 50% (6 of 12 pts; 95% CI, 21.1-78.9) and CBR was 66.7% (8 of 12 pts; 95% CI, 34.9-90.1). Combining pts with measurable intracranial or extracranial disease from cohorts 2 and 4, ORR, CBR and median DoR were 41.7% (5 of 12 pts; 95% CI, 15.2–72.3), 50.0% (6 of 12 pts; 95% CI, 21.1–78.9), and 7.2 months (95% CI, 2.5-16.4), respectively. Median PFS was 5.7 months (95% CI, 4.7-NA) among these pts. The most common treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) of any grade (G) were fatigue (58.3%; 8.3% G≥3) and nausea (50.0%; 0% G≥3). Two (16.7%; 0% G≥3) cases of interstitial lung disease/pneumonitis were reported. Serious unrelated TEAEs occurred in 2 (16.7%) of 12 pts; 1 case of general pain (G3) and 1 case of venous embolism (G5) that led to death. There were no drug-related deaths due to TEAEs. Conclusions: T-DXd showed a preliminary antitumor activity in pretreated HER2-low ABC pts with asymptomatic untreated or progressing BM after local treatment. The substantial response of BM to T-DXd in this setting is promising and warrants further investigation.

Citation Format: José Manuel Pérez-García, Marta Vaz Batista, Patricia Cortez-Castedo, Manuel Ruiz Borrego, Juan Miguel Cejalvo, Juan de la Haba-Rodríguez, Laia Garrigós, Fabriccio Racca, Sonia Servitja, Salvador Blanch, Maria Gión, Mónica Nave, Adela Fernández, Alejandro Martínez-Bueno, Antonio Llombart-Cussac, Miguel Sampayo-Cordero, Andrea Malfettone, Javier Cortés, Sofía Braga. Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in patients with Unstable Central Nervous System Involvement from HER2-Low Advanced Breast Cancer: The DEBBRAH Trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr PD7-02.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with central nervous system involvement from HER2-positive breast cancer: The DEBBRAH trial

BACKGROUND

Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) has shown durable antitumor activity in pretreated patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer (ABC), but its efficacy has not yet been evaluated in patients with active brain metastases (BMs). DEBBRAH aims to assess T-DXd in patients with HER2-positive or HER2-low ABC and central nervous system involvement.

METHODS

This ongoing, five-cohort, phase II study (NCT04420598) enrolled patients with pretreated HER2-positive or HER2-low ABC with stable, untreated, or progressing BMs, and/or leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. Here, we report findings from HER2-positive ABC patients with non-progressing BMs after local therapy (n = 8; cohort 1), asymptomatic untreated BMs (n = 4; cohort 2), or progressing BMs after local therapy (n = 9; cohort 3). Patients received 5.4 mg/kg T-DXd intravenously once every 21 days. The primary endpoint was 16-week progression-free survival (PFS) for cohort 1 and intracranial objective response rate (ORR-IC) for cohorts 2 and 3.

RESULTS

As of October 20, 2021, 21 patients received T-DXd. In cohort 1, 16-week PFS rate was 87.5% (95%CI, 47.3-99.7; P < .001). ORR-IC was 50.0% (95%CI, 6.7-93.2) in cohort 2 and 44.4% (95%CI, 13.7-78.8; P < .001) in cohort 3. Overall, the ORR-IC in patients with active BMs was 46.2% (95%CI, 19.2-74.9). Among patients with measurable intracranial or extracranial lesions at baseline, the ORR was 66.7% (12 out of 18 patients; 95%CI, 41.0-86.7), 80.0% (95%CI, 28.4-99.5) in cohort 1, 50.0% (95%CI, 6.7-93.2) in cohort 2, and 66.7% (95%CI, 29.9-92.5) in cohort 3. All responders had partial responses. The most common adverse events included fatigue (52.4%; 4.8% grade ≥3), nausea (42.9%; 0% grade ≥3), neutropenia (28.6%; 19% grade ≥3), and constipation (28.6%; 0% grade ≥3). Two (9.5%) patients suffered grade 1 interstitial lung disease/pneumonitis.

CONCLUSIONS

T-DXd showed intracranial activity with manageable toxicity and maintained the quality of life in pretreated HER2-positive ABC patients with stable, untreated, or progressing BMs. Further studies are needed to validate these results in larger cohorts.

Evaluation of the TCR Repertoire as a Predictive and Prognostic Biomarker in Cancer: Diversity or Clonality?

Simple Summary

The TCR is the T cell antigen receptor, and it is responsible of the T cell activation, through the HLA-antigen complex recognition. Studying the TCR repertoire in patients with cancer can help to better understand the anti-tumoural responses and it has been suggested to have predictive and or/prognostic values, both for the disease and in response to treatments. The aim of this review is to summarize TCR repertoire studies performed in patients with cancer found in the literature, thoroughly analyse the different factors that can be involved in shaping the TCR repertoire, and draw the current conclusions in this field, especially focusing on whether the TCR diversity—or its opposite, the clonality—can be used as predictors or prognostic biomarkers of the disease.

Abstract

T cells play a vital role in the anti-tumoural response, and the presence of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes has shown to be directly correlated with a good prognosis in several cancer types. Nevertheless, some patients presenting tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes do not have favourable outcomes. The TCR determines the specificities of T cells, so the analysis of the TCR repertoire has been recently considered to be a potential biomarker for patients’ progression and response to therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors. The TCR repertoire is one of the multiple elements comprising the immune system and is conditioned by several factors, including tissue type, tumour mutational burden, and patients’ immunogenetics. Its study is crucial to understanding the anti-tumoural response, how to beneficially modulate the immune response with current or new treatments, and how to better predict the prognosis. Here, we present a critical review including essential studies on TCR repertoire conducted in patients with cancer with the aim to draw the current conclusions and try to elucidate whether it is better to encounter higher clonality with few TCRs at higher frequencies, or higher diversity with many different TCRs at lower frequencies.

Abstract PD4-06: Trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with HER2[+] or HER2-low-expressing advanced breast cancer and central nervous system involvement: Preliminary results from the DEBBRAH phase 2 study

Background: Approximately 30% to 40% of patients (pts) with HER2[+] advanced breast cancer (ABC) will develop brain metastases (BM) during the course of their disease. Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd; DS-8201) is an antibody-drug conjugate containing an anti-HER2 antibody, a cleavable tetrapeptide-based linker, and a topoisomerase I inhibitor payload. In the phase 2 DESTINY-Breast01 trial, T-DXd showed efficacy in the subgroup of HER2[+] ABC pts with stable BM at baseline. DEBBRAH is assessing the efficacy and safety of T-DXd in HER2[+] and HER2-low-expressing ABC pts with a history of BM and/or leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC). Here, we report primary results from cohorts A and C. Methods: This is an ongoing, multicenter, open-label, 5-cohort, non-comparative, phase 2 study across 18 hospitals in 2 countries. A total of 39 pts aged ≥18 years with pretreated HER2[+] or HER2-low-expressing ABC with stable, progressing, or untreated BM and/or LMC are being enrolled in 5 cohorts: (A) HER2[+] ABC with non-progressing BM after radiotherapy and/or surgery; (B) HER2[+] or HER2-low-expressing ABC with asymptomatic untreated BM; (C) HER2[+] ABC with progressing BM after local treatment; (D) HER2-low-expressing ABC with progressing BM after local treatment; (E) HER2[+] or HER2-low-expressing ABC with LMC. In cohorts A and C, pts must have received prior taxane and ≥1 HER2-targeted therapy for ABC. Pts received 5.4 mg/kg T-DXd intravenously on day 1 of a 21-day cycle until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or consent withdrawal. The primary endpoint for cohort A is 16-week progression-free survival (PFS) per local assessment using RANO-BM for central nervous system (CNS) lesions and RECIST v.1.1 for extracranial lesions (H0: 5%); for cohort C, CNS overall response rate (ORR; H0: 10%). A single-arm binomial design is used for cohorts A and C. A futility interim analysis has been planned in cohort A after accrual of 4 pts. Sample size was planned to attain an 80% power at nominal level of one-sided α of 0.05 in each cohort. Results: Between Jun 29, 2020, and Feb 18, 2021, 26 pts were allocated in the study. Enrollment is complete in cohorts A (n=8 pts) and C (n=9 pts), and ongoing in the remaining cohorts. At data cutoff (May 21, 2021), median follow-up for the cohort A was 5.5 months (IQR 4.4-6.9) and 6.2 months (IQR 5.1-6.4) for the cohort C. In the cohort A, 6 (75.0%) of 8 pts were alive without disease progression at 16 weeks, reaching the primary endpoint (p&lt;0.01). In the cohort C, the CNS ORR was 55.6% (5 pts with partial response), also meeting the primary endpoint (p&lt;0.01). At the time of this analysis, 75.0% of pts of the cohort A and 55.6% of the cohort C remained on therapy. The most frequent adverse events of any grade in 26 pts who received at least 1 dose of T-DXd were fatigue (11 [42.3%]; 3.8% of grade 3), nausea (10 [38.5%]), a decreased neutrophil count (9 [34.6%]; 11.5% of grade 3), and anemia (6 [23.1%]). Treatment-related serious adverse events occurred in 1 (3.8%) of 26 pts due to grade 1 pneumonitis. No treatment-related deaths were reported. Conclusions: T-DXd demonstrated preliminary efficacy with manageable toxicity in pretreated pts with HER2[+] ABC with stable and progressing BM after local treatment. Further investigation is required in larger cohorts to validate these findings. The assessment of the T-DXd antitumor activity in cohorts B, D, and E is currently ongoing.

Citation Format: Marta Vaz Batista, Patricia Cortez, Manuel Ruiz, Juan Miguel Cejalvo, Juan de la Haba, Laia Garrigós, Fabricio Racca, Sonia Servitja, Salvador Blanch, Iris Teruel, José Manuel Pérez-García, María Gion, Monica Nave, Antonio Llombart-Cussac, Miguel Sampayo-Cordero, Andrea Malfettone, Javier Cortes, Sofia Braga. Trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with HER2[+] or HER2-low-expressing advanced breast cancer and central nervous system involvement: Preliminary results from the DEBBRAH phase 2 study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD4-06.

COVID-19 in breast cancer patients: a subanalysis of the OnCovid registry

BACKGROUND

Cancer patients are at higher risk of COVID-19 complications and mortality than the rest of the population. Breast cancer patients seem to have better prognosis when infected by SARS-CoV-2 than other cancer patients.

METHODS

We report a subanalysis of the OnCovid study providing more detailed information in the breast cancer population.

RESULTS

We included 495 breast cancer patients with a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mean age was 62.6 years; 31.5% presented more than one comorbidity. The most frequent breast cancer subtype was luminal-like (n = 245, 49.5%) and 177 (35.8%) had metastatic disease. A total of 332 (67.1%) patients were receiving active treatment, with radical intent in 232 (47.6%) of them. Hospitalization rate was 58.2% and all-cause mortality rate was 20.3%. One hundred twenty-nine (26.1%) patients developed one COVID-19 complication, being acute respiratory failure the most common (n = 74, 15.0%). In the multivariable analysis, age older than 70 years, presence of COVID-19 complications, and metastatic disease were factors correlated with worse outcomes, while ongoing anticancer therapy at time of COVID-19 diagnosis appeared to be a protective factor. No particular oncological treatment was related to higher risk of complications. In the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection, 73 (18.3%) patients had some kind of modification on their oncologic treatment. At the first oncological reassessment (median time: 46.9 days ± 36.7), 255 (51.6%) patients reported to be fully recovered from the infection. There were 39 patients (7.9%) with long-term SARS-CoV-2-related complications.

CONCLUSION

In the context of COVID-19, our data confirm that breast cancer patients appear to have lower complications and mortality rate than expected in other cancer populations. Most breast cancer patients can be safely treated for their neoplasm during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Oncological treatment has no impact on the risk of SARS-CoV-2 complications, and, especially in the curative setting, the treatment should be modified as little as possible.

Abstract 993: GDF15 is a candidate circulating biomarker of eribulin response in breast cancer

Microtubule-targeting agents (MTAs) constitute a diverse group of chemical compounds that bind to microtubules and affect their structure and function. Disruption of microtubules induces various cellular responses, often leading to cell cycle arrest or cell death. Eribulin is a microtubule dynamic inhibitor approved for treatment in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) who had previously been administered chemotherapy. Although MTAs are widely used in the clinic, there is a research gap in the identification of pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarkers that could be used as surrogates during the course of treatment and measured non-invasively. The proteomic interrogation of the cancer secretome has emerged as a promising strategy for biomarker and drug target discovery. Secretomes have much lower complexity than plasma and tissue homogenates and are likely to be enriched with tumour derived-proteins entering into circulation. Quantitative proteomics analysis of the cancer secretome could help monitor critical aspects of cancer progression and therapeutics. The working hypothesis for this study is that eribulin induces a specific secretome that can be measured by quantitative proteomics, and could be used to identify response biomarkers linked to the action of the drug. We used three cell line models, MDA-MB-231 and HS578T (representing triple-negative BC) and MCF7 (representing luminal BC), all of them sensitive to treatment with eribulin. After a 7-day treatment with an IC70 of eribulin, we identified a subpopulation of cells with a lower proliferation rate, a slow-cycling subpopulation of cells that survived the large cell death induced by the drug. This slow-cycling population is alive in the presence of eribulin but remains in a quiescent state. The secretome profiling of slow-cycling cells revealed an oversecretion of the growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) when compared to parental cells and cells that after continuous exposure to eribulin start proliferating and become drug-tolerant. Interestingly, drug-tolerant cells lose the secretion of GDF15, suggesting a role for GDF15 in the response to eribulin treatment. Currently, we are validating GDF15 as a candidate circulating biomarker for the response to eribulin in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) 3D-models derived from metastatic BC patients. Furthermore, we are conducting loss of GDF15 function experiments in slow-cycling cells to understand whether the secretion of GDF15 could also contribute to the establishment and/or maintenance of the slow-cycling state in cells responding to eribulin.We envision that our work will contribute to the validation of GDF15 as a circulating biomarker that could be used to monitor eribulin's activity in the clinical setting. Furthermore, these results could also help understand the initiation of acquired resistance to eribulin.

Citation Format: Chiara Bellio, Marta Emperador, Laia Garrigós, Esther Zamora, Cristina Saura, Bruce A. Littlefield, Josep Villanueva. GDF15 is a candidate circulating biomarker of eribulin response in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 993.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer and beyond

INTRODUCTION

Despite the substantial improvements made in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted therapies since the approval of trastuzumab more than 20 years ago, there is still considerable unmet need in patients with HER2-expressing breast cancer (BC) and other solid tumors. Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) is a newer antibody-drug conjugate approved for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (BC) and gastric cancer (GC) and is under active investigation in other solid tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and HER2-low tumors.

AREAS COVERED

The current treatment and investigational landscape of HER2-positive and HER2-low metastatic BC (mBC) and the preclinical and clinical trials investigating T-DXd. To identify relevant literature, a search was performed on English-language publications and congress abstracts.

EXPERT OPINION

T-DXd is likely to become the standard of care for second-line treatment of HER2-positive mBC, and it may play a role in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive and triple-negative mBC with HER2-low expression. Because it was recently approved in the United States and Japan to treat HER2-positive metastatic GC, it holds promise for the treatment of other HER2-positive solid tumors, including colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and HER2-low BC.

Neratinib plus capecitabine for the treatment of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer

INTRODUCTION

Several agents are being developed for advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, such as potent tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) targeting ErbB family receptors, novel antibody-drug conjugates, higher affinity anti-HER2 antibodies, among others. Neratinib is an irreversible pan-HER (EGFR, ERBB2, and ERBB4) TKI being tested in early and advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. In the NALA trial, neratinib plus capecitabine led to increased PFS and time to intervention for central nervous system disease over the standard regimen of lapatinib plus capecitabine. The main adverse event in the neratinib arm was diarrhea, which mandates for prophylactic treatment with loperamide.

AREAS COVERED

In this review, we analyze and discuss preclinical and clinical data with neratinib plus capecitabine. We summarize efficacy and safety results from phase I/II and III trials, and discuss this regimen within the landscape of treatment for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer progressing after two lines of HER2-directed treatment.

EXPERT OPINION

Neratinib plus capecitabine is a valid treatment option for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, after progression to at least two anti-HER2-based regimens. Given the multiple options that are being developed in this context, efforts should be employed to establish strong predictive biomarkers of efficacy to each drug and combination.

Phase III study to evaluate patient's preference of subcutaneous versus intravenous trastuzumab in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients: Results from the ChangHER study (GEICAM/2012-07)

OBJECTIVE

We compared patients' preferences for intravenous (IV-t) versus subcutaneous (SC-t) trastuzumab administration.

METHODS

Phase III, open-label, multicentre study in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Patients were receiving IV-t for at least 4 months without progression. Randomisation was 1:1 to administer 2 cycles of SC-t with vial followed by 2 cycles with single injection device (SID) or the reverse sequence (600mg SC-t every 3 weeks for 4 cycles).

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

patients' preference for IV-t versus SC-t; secondary objectives: patients' preference for vial versus SID, healthcare professional (HCP) preference and safety.

RESULTS

We randomised 166 patients in 26 sites. Median number of previous lines of chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy was 1 (1-7). Median duration of prior IV-t was 1.8 years (0.3-14). Of the159 patients completing the questionnaires, 86.2% preferred SC-t, 6.9% preferred IV-t, and 6.9% had no preference. Patients preferred SID (59.2%) over vial (26.3%). Most (87.2%) HCP preferred SC-t of whom 51.3% and 28.2% preferred SID and vial respectively. Related adverse events included G1-2 injection site reactions in 18 patients (10.8%), G1 pain in 8 (4.8%), G1-2 allergic reaction in 2 (1.2%), one G3 heart failure and 1 G2 ejection fraction decrease.

CONCLUSIONS

SC-t is preferred with no safety impact.

Abstract A036: Identification of secretome-based eribulin biomarkers for breast cancer therapeutics

Microtubules are major components of the cytoskeleton. They are involved in a wide variety of cell functions including attribution to cell shape, motility, intracellular trafficking and mitotic spindle formation. Therefore, microtubules have gained significant interest as important targets for cancer therapy. Several microtubule-targeting agents (MTAs) are being used to treat cancer patients. Eribulin is a novel microtubule dynamic inhibitor approved for treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) after two previous lines of therapy and the only cytotoxic agent in recent years to improve overall survival (OS) in heavily pretreated patients. A challenge for achieving successful management of cancer is the discovery of tumor biomarkers that represent useful surrogates during the course of the disease and therapeutic treatment, and that can be measured non-invasively. Over the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the study of cancer secretome, a sub-proteome that contains secreted and shed plasma membrane proteins. The rationale supporting this approach is that secretomes have a much lower complexity than plasma and tissue homogenates, and may be enriched with proteins that are very likely to enter the circulation. The presence of proteins linked to cancer such as growth factors and proteases in these fluids indicates that secretomes might help in monitoring critical aspects of cancer progression and therapeutic treatment. The working hypothesis for this study is that there is a secretome induced by eribulin that can be measured by quantitative proteomics, and can be used to identify response biomarkers linked to the action of the drug. We used three cell line models representing triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), MDA-MB-231 and MX1, and luminal BC, MCF7, which were already proven to be sensitive to eribulin. We generated secretomes by quantitative proteomics from these cell lines during the treatment with eribulin, and we compared them to the control secretomes from the same cell lines. The statistical analysis of the data revealed a specific secretome that could reflect the action of eribulin on tumor cells. Specifically, eribulin treatment induced the oversecretion of the same families of protein in the three different BC cell lines. In the near future, we will select candidate biomarkers for validation in samples obtained from metastatic patients at baseline and during treatment, and we will correlate their levels with the standard response evaluation by diagnostic radiologic exams. This project is the collaborative effort between the Tumor Biomarkers laboratory at VHIO, the Breast Cancer Program at Vall d’Hebron Hospital and Eisai. We are confident that identifying the eribulin-based secretome could help monitoring critical aspects of cancer therapeutic MBC treatment.

Citation Format: Chiara Bellio, Juan M. Duran, Olga Méndez, Nathalie Meo-Evoli, Cándida Salvans, Laia Garrigós, Esther Zamora, Cristina Saura, Bruce A Littlefield, Josep Villanueva. Identification of secretome-based eribulin biomarkers for breast cancer therapeutics [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2019 Oct 26-30; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2019;18(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A036. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-19-A036

Determinants of concordance in clinically relevant genes (CRG) from synchronously acquired tumor biopsies (tBx) and ctDNA in metastatic breast cancer (MBC)

1075

Background: NGS in ctDNA from MBC is feasible and results may be informative for patients’ management, especially in non-luminal tumors (Oliveira et al, ASCO 2018). We aimed to study the determinants of concordance in CRG in a cohort of 60 MBC patients undergoing tBx and ctDNA collection. Methods: MiSeq Amplicon-based NGS (59 cancer-related genes) was performed in one single metastatic lesion per patient and compared with liquid biopsies taken at the same time point at disease progression to prior treatment. The concordance in CRG ( PIK3CA, AKT1, ERBB2, ESR1, PTEN, BRAF, FGFR1, HRAS, KRAS, and PIK3R1) in tBx vs ctDNA was determined at patient and at mutation (mut) level and correlated with mutant allele fraction (MAF), total disease volume (TDV), and clinical characteristics. True positive in plasma (TPP): patient with a mut detected both in ctDNA and tBx. TDV was defined as all metastasis volume assessed by CT scan (excluding sclerotic bone metastasis), and analyzed by an experienced radiologist using the 3DSlicer semiautomatic segmentation tool (TDV = pixel size x number of pixels). Results: Concordance in CRG at patient and mut level was 72% and 55%, respectively. Concordance for ERBB2 (1/1; 100%) and PIK3CA (17/22; 77%) was higher than for ESR1 (8/20; 40%) and AKT1 (2/6; 33%). ctDNA failed to detect 14 mut present in tBx ( ESR1 n = 5, PIK3CA n = 5, AKT1 n = 3, BRAF n = 1). Concordance was 100% for non-luminal and 60% for luminal cases (P = 0.01). In univariate analysis, concordance was not associated with MAF in tBx (P = 0.15), TDV (p = 0.86), number of prior lines of therapy (P = 0.57), number of metastatic sites (P = 0.56) or presence of visceral metastasis (P = 1.0). In patients with PIK3CA mut (N = 22), those with TPP had a numerically higher TDV than those where a PIK3CA mut was not detected in ctDNA (20.9cm3 vs 5.1cm3, P = 0.28). Across all patients, in the multivariate logistic model adjusted for other factors, TDV was a determinant of TPP (OR 1.02, 95%CI 1.0-1.06; P = 0.059). For each increase of 1cm3 in TDV, there was a 2% increase in the probability of detecting a mut in ctDNA. Conclusions: Our results suggest that liquid biopsy testing for the detection of actionable CRG is clinically valid in MBC, although its yield depends on several factors – tumor subtype, analyzed gene, and possibly tumor volume – that reflect both tumor heterogeneity and tumor shedding rate. Due to the potential clinical implications, the observation that mutation detection in ctDNA may correlate with tumor volume merits further study in a larger dataset.

Abstract OT2-01-11: Phase II of POSEIDON: A phase Ib / randomized phase II trial of tamoxifen plus taselisib or placebo in hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative, metastatic breast cancer patients with prior exposure to endocrine treatment

Background: The combination of PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway inhibitors with endocrine therapy can improve clinical outcomes of hormone receptor positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Taselisib is a potent and selective PI3K inhibitor, with greater selectivity against mutant (MUT) PI3Kα isoforms than wild-type (WT) via a unique mechanism. Phase Ib data of POSEIDON with Taselisib + tamoxifen (TAM) demonstrated encouraging activity in patients with heavily pre-treated MBC, with an acceptable toxicity profile (Baird et al, ASCO 2016). The recommended phase II dose (RP2D) was Taselisib 4mg plus TAM 20mg, both administered on a daily continuous schedule. ctDNA monitoring may have value in drug development by (1) assessing predictive biomarkers to therapy, (2) providing an early indication of treatment response, and (3) shedding light on potential mechanisms of acquired drug resistance. In some patients included in phase Ib of POSEIDON, tumor response was preceded by a corresponding early change in plasma PIK3CA ctDNA levels. Methods: The phase II portion of the POSEIDON trial is a two-arm, randomized, double blind study of Taselisib plus TAM versus placebo (PLA) plus TAM in pre- and postmenopausal women with HR+/HER2- MBC. In the first part of the Phase II, 180 patients will be randomized (1:1) to receive continuous TAM with either Taselisib at the RP2D or PLA until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity or patient / physician decision. Crossover is allowed upon progressive disease in those patients receiving PLA plus TAM, after collection of tumor and blood samples for exploratory biomarker analysis. Stratification is based on menopausal status, histology [lobular breast cancer (LBC) vs. ductal/others], PIK3CA mutation (WT vs. exon 9 vs. exon 20), prior everolimus, timing of recurrence/progression after prior endocrine therapy, number of prior chemotherapy (CT) lines, and treatment center. After recruiting the initial 180 patients, trial will focus in LBC, until a total number of 110 patients with LBC are enrolled. Other key eligibility criteria include presence of measurable or evaluable disease (RECIST 1.1), prior progression to endocrine treatment, maximum of 5 prior CT lines in the metastatic setting, absence of diabetes under medical treatment, and absence of chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Primary endpoint is investigator-assessed PFS. Key secondary endpoints are PFS in LBC, objective response rate, clinical benefit rate, safety, and exploratory biomarker analysis (including ctDNA). The study has a 90% power at a two-sided log-rank test significance level of 0.2 to detect an HR of 0.64, which corresponds to an increase in median PFS from 4.5 months in the PLA plus TAM arm to 7 months in the Taselisib plus TAM arm. Enrollment to POSEIDON Phase II started in June 2016 (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02285179).

Citation Format: Oliveira M, Baird RD, van Rossum AGJ, Beelen K, Garcia-Corbacho J, Mandjes IAM, Vallier AL, van Werkhoven E, Garrigós L, Kumar S, van Tinteren H, Muñoz S, Linossi C, Rosing H, Miquel JM, Schrier M, de Vries Schultink A, Saura C, Gallagher WM, Bernards R, Tabernero J, Cortés J, Caldas C, Linn SC. Phase II of POSEIDON: A phase Ib / randomized phase II trial of tamoxifen plus taselisib or placebo in hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative, metastatic breast cancer patients with prior exposure to endocrine treatment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT2-01-11.

Abstract P4-21-16: Phase III trial to evaluate patient´s preference for subcutaneous versus intravenous trastuzumab administration in patients with HER2 positive advanced breast cancer (ABC) under IV trastuzumab (IV-t) treatment for at least 4 months. ChangHER-SC study (GEICAM/2012-07)

Background: Patients with HER2-positive ABC, receive anti-HER2 treatment for several months or even years. IV-t is administered weekly or 3-weekly, mandating patients to visit the hospital on a regular basis to receive infusions. This has inconveniences for patients and increase treatment costs. Subcutaneous administration could improve convenience of trastuzumab therapy. This study was designed to evaluate patient's preference for IV-t or SC trastuzumab (SC-t) in ABC patients.

Methods:This is a phase III, open label, multicenter study inpatients with HER2 positive ABC, receiving IV-t for at least 4 months and without evidence of disease progression. Patients received 600 mg of SC-t, either from a vial or from a single injection device (SID), every 3 weeks for 4 cycles. Before starting SC-t, patients received an additional IV-t cycle. Patients were randomized 1:1 to arm A, receiving 2 cycles of SC-t with vial followed by 2 cycles with SID or arm B, receiving the opposite sequence. After cycle 4, patients decided to continue with IV-t or SC-t till disease progression. Stratification criteria were the associated therapy (Chemotherapy, Hormone-therapy or none) and its administration route (IV, oral or none). Patients completed a questionnaire of experiences and preferences at three time points: before starting SC-t, after cycle 2 and after cycle 4. Health Care Professionals completed a satisfaction questionnaire every 5 patients. The primary objective was to evaluate patient´s preference for IV-t or SC-t (after cycle 2) and, secondary objectives were, to evaluate patient´s preference between the two SC-t administrations (vial or SID) after cycle 4, Health Care Professional satisfaction, associated costs of the administration options (Time and Motion pharmacoeconomic study) and safety.

Results: From September-13 to July-15, 166 patients were randomized (81 arm A, 85 arm B) in 26 Spanish sites from GEICAM. Median age was 60 years (35-93), 88% of patients were postmenopausal and 123 and 42 had an ECOG PS of 0 and 1, respectively. The median duration of prior IV-t for ABC was 1.8 years (range: 0.3-14). Patients received a median of 2 previous lines of Chemotherapy and/or Hormone-therapy (range: 1-9). Twenty patients were receiving pertuzumab at inclusion. According to patient questionnaires completed after cycle 2, 137 patients preferred the SC-t (66 arm A, 71 arm B), 11 the IV-t (6 arm A, 5 arm B), 11 didn't have a preference (4 arm A, 7 arm B), and 7 didn't answer (3 progressed, 2 withdrew participation before cycle 2 and 2 unknown reason). Three of the 11 patients choosing IV-t were receiving IV treatment as accompanying therapy; after cycle 4 five of these 11 patients finally continued with SC-t, 5 with IV-t and 1 progressed. From the 11 patients without any preference 7 received SC-t, 2 receive IV-t and 2 progressed; from the 137 patients preferring SC-t, 125 actually received it, 3 received IV-t and 9 progressed.

Conclusions: Our study shows that 82.5% of patients preferred the SC-t over the IV-t. Treatment choice was not influenced by the accompanying therapy.

Citation Format: Ciruelos EM, Montaño Á, Rodríguez CA, González-Flores E, Lluch A, Garrigós L, Quiroga V, Antón A, Malón D, Chacón JI, Velasco M, Gonzalez-Cortijo L, Jolis L, Pascual T, Amigo Y, Casas M, Cámara MC, Carrasco E, Casas A. Phase III trial to evaluate patient´s preference for subcutaneous versus intravenous trastuzumab administration in patients with HER2 positive advanced breast cancer (ABC) under IV trastuzumab (IV-t) treatment for at least 4 months. ChangHER-SC study (GEICAM/2012-07) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-21-16.

Abstract OT3-01-03: Phase III clinical trial to evaluate patient's preference for subcutaneous (SC) versus intravenous (IV) trastuzumab administration in patients with HER2 positive, advanced breast cancer (ABC) under IV trastuzumab treatment for at least 4 months and without disease progression. ChangHER-SC study (GEICAM/2012-07)

Background: Patients with HER2-positive, ABC, usually receive anti-HER2 treatment for several months or even years. Trastuzumab IV is administered weekly or 3-weekly, mandating patients to visit the hospital on a regular basis to receive infusions that are prepared in the hospital's pharmacy and administered to patients over 30-90 minutes. These mean some inconveniences for the patients and increase treatment costs. Subcutaneous administration could improve convenience of trastuzumab treatment. This study was designed to evaluate patient's preference for IV or SC trastuzumab.

Trial Design: Phase III, open label, multicenter study, running in 27 Spanish sites. HER2 positive, ABC patients, receiving IV trastuzumab (in monotherapy or in any combination), without evidence of disease progression for at least 4 months, and a life expectancy of at least 3 months, are eligible. Patients are randomized to receive SC trastuzumab, either from a vial or from a single injection device (SID), at a fixed dose of 600 mg, every 3 weeks, for 4 cycles. Before starting SC administration, patients receive an additional IV cycle. Patients in arm A receive 2 SC cycles using the vial and then two cycles more with the SID. In arm B patients receive the opposite sequence. After these four cycles, patients continue with SC or IV trastuzumab, depending on their decision, until disease progression. The primary objective is to evaluate patient's preference for IV or SC trastuzumab and, secondary objectives are, to evaluate patient's preference for the SC administration using the vial or the SID, the Health Care Professional satisfaction, the associated costs of the different administration options (with a Time and Motion pharmaco-economic study) and the safety of the different treatment administrations. Assuming a 65% rate of patients preferring SC trastuzumab and with a precision ±7.5%, a total of 195 patients have to be recruited to allow for a 20% of expected drop-out rate. Recruitment started in September 2013 and 158 patients have been included so far. Analysis of the primary endpoint will take place once the last patient has completed the 4 cycles of the study treatment. (ClinTrials.gov reference NCT01875367).

Citation Format: Ciruelos E, González E, Lluch A, Garrigós L, Quiroga V, Antón A, Pascual T, Montaño Á, Angulo MdM, Cámara MdC, Amigo Y, Carrasco E, Casas A. Phase III clinical trial to evaluate patient's preference for subcutaneous (SC) versus intravenous (IV) trastuzumab administration in patients with HER2 positive, advanced breast cancer (ABC) under IV trastuzumab treatment for at least 4 months and without disease progression. ChangHER-SC study (GEICAM/2012-07). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT3-01-03.

Vitamin D threshold to prevent aromatase inhibitor-related bone loss: the B-ABLE prospective cohort study

Aromatase inhibitor (AI)-related bone loss is associated with increased fracture rates. Vitamin D might play a role in minimising this effect. We hypothesised that 25-hydroxy-vitamin D concentrations [25(OH)D] after 3 months supplementation might relate to bone loss after 1 year on AI therapy. We conducted a prospective cohort study from January 2006 to December 2011 of a consecutive sample of women initiating AI for early breast cancer who were ineligible for bisphosphonate therapy and stayed on treatment for 1 year (N = 232). Serum 25(OH)D was measured at baseline and 3 months, and lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral density at baseline and 1 year. Subjects were supplemented with daily calcium (1 g) and vitamin D(3) (800 IU) and additional oral 16,000 IU every 2 weeks if baseline 25(OH)D was <30 ng/ml. Linear regression models were fitted to adjust for potential confounders. After 1 year on AI therapy, 232 participants experienced a significant 1.68 % [95 % CI 1.15-2.20 %] bone loss at LS (0.017 g/cm(2) [0.012-0.024], P < 0.0001). Higher 25(OH)D at 3 months protected against LS bone loss (-0.5 % per 10 ng/ml [95 % CI -0.7 to -0.3 %], adjusted P = 0.0001), and those who reached levels ≥40 ng/ml had reduced bone loss by 1.70 % [95 % CI 0.4-3.0 %; adjusted P = 0.005] compared to those with low 25(OH)D levels (<30 ng/ml). We conclude that improved vitamin D status using supplementation is associated with attenuation of AI-associated bone loss. For this population, the current Institute of Medicine target recommendation of 20 ng/ml might be too low to ensure good bone health.

Bone health in a prospective cohort of postmenopausal women receiving aromatase inhibitors for early breast cancer

OBJECTIVE

Baseline bone health in postmenopausal women is poorly characterized in prospective series of early breast cancer (EBC) patients candidates to aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy. Our objective is to comprehensively evaluate bone health in a prospective clinical cohort of patients recruited prior to adjuvant AI therapy, with the aim of establishing potential AI impact on bone loss and fractures.

METHODS

From January 2006 to April 2010, we consecutively included 343 women with EBC who were about to start adjuvant AI therapy. Participants were assessed at baseline (before AI initiation) and at 3 months, with annual assessments thereafter. Bone mineral density (BMD), spine X-ray, bone metabolism (vitamin D [25(OH)D], bone turnover markers [BTM]), arthralgia and quality of life are measured.

RESULTS

Mean age was 61.9 years; 197 (57.4%) had been previously treated with tamoxifen; 145 (42.3%) were taking exemestane, 187 (54.5%) letrozole, and 11 (3.2%) anastrozole. Analysis of baseline data shows only 59 women (17.7%) had normal BMD; 200 (60.1%) had osteopenia and 74 (22.2%) had osteoporosis; 39 women (11.4%) had a prevalent fracture, 293 (89.1%) had 25(OH)D insufficiency (<30 ng/ml), and 61 (18.5%) severe deficiency (<10 ng/ml). Low 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with lower BMD and 233 (67.9%) participants had some degree of arthralgia.

CONCLUSIONS

Low bone mass, prevalent fractures and vitamin D insufficiency were highly prevalent among candidates to adjuvant AI for EBC. Therefore, it is crucial to assess BMD, prevalent fractures and 25(OH)D concentrations before starting AI therapy and during follow-up.