Abstract HER2-16: HER2-16 Inter-lesion heterogeneity of HER2-status in metastatic breast cancer: possible implications for treatment with anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugates
Authors: Geukens Tatjana , De Schepper Maxim , Richard François , Maetens Marion , Van Baelen Karen , Mahdami Amena , Nguyen Ha-Linh , Isnaldi Edoardo , Leduc Sophia , Pabba Anirudh , Bachir Imane , Mertens Freya , Borght Sara Vander , Smeets Ann , Nevelsteen Ines , Punie Kevin , Neven Patrick , Wildiers Hans , Bogaert Wouter Van Den , Floris Giuseppe , Desmedt Christine 
Published: March 2023

Background. Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) has shown promising activity in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer. As the HER2-status can vary between the primary and its corresponding metastases, treatment decisions should ideally be based on HER2 assessment of a recent biopsy. However, limited data is available on intra-patient inter-metastatic heterogeneity in HER2-status, affecting representability of a single biopsy and potential therapeutic options and outcome. We therefore assessed HER2 status on multiple metastases from patients with primary ER-positive/HER2-non-amplified breast cancer in our prospective post-mortem tissue donation program UPTIDER (NCT04531696). Methods. Ninety-one metastatic samples retrieved during the autopsies of 6 patients (range: 13–16/patient) and their respective primary tumours were immunohistochemically (IHC) stained for HER2 (HercepTestTM, RTU, ISO-15189 accredited) in our institution. Consensus scoring was performed between two pathologists according to ASCO/CAP 2018 guidelines. The observers were blinded for patient ID. Reflex fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing was performed for samples with IHC score of 2+. HER2 status was categorized as HER2-zero (IHC 0), HER2-low (IHC 1+ or IHC 2+ with negative FISH), or HER2-positive (IHC 3+ or IHC 2+ with positive FISH). To assess stability of the performance of IHC scoring in the post-mortem setting, an additional 13 samples taken from 3 metastases at regular (every 1.5h) time intervals during the autopsy underwent HER2 IHC scoring. Results. Evaluation of HER2-status in the primary tumour showed 2 patients with HER2-zero disease and 4 with HER2-low disease. A discordance between HER2 status of the metastases and their respective primary was seen in all patients. Not a single lesion was found to be HER2-positive. For every patient, at least one HER2-low metastasis was observed, with the percentage being highly variable between patients and ranging between 7 and 100%. No association was observed between HER2 status and organ site: HER2-low as well as HER2-zero lesions were found in all organs evaluated in at least 4 patients (liver, bone, pleura, lymph nodes). For 5 patients, multiple lesions within the liver were evaluated: while HER2-zero versus HER2-low status was concordant in those lesions in 4 patients, a mix of HER2 IHC scores was seen in 3 of them. IHC scores were stable over time for tumour lesions assessed repeatedly. Discussion. Important inter-lesion heterogeneity in terms of HER2-low status was observed in patients with primary ER-positive/HER2-non-amplified breast cancer participating to our post-mortem tissue donation program. This observed heterogeneity is unlikely to be due to post-mortem changes in HER2 expression. HER2-low status was found in at least one distant lesion in all patients, complicating therapeutic decision-making based on a single biopsy. Of note, IHC 1+ and 2+ scores varied between metastases of each patient too, making assessment on a single biopsy less reliable for stratification in clinical trials. Further assessment on samples from UPTIDER-patients with ER-negative disease is currently ongoing and results will be available to be presented.

Citation Format: Tatjana Geukens, Maxim De Schepper, François Richard, Marion Maetens, Karen Van Baelen, Amena Mahdami, Ha-Linh Nguyen, Edoardo Isnaldi, Sophia Leduc, Anirudh Pabba, Imane Bachir, Freya Mertens, Sara Vander Borght, Ann Smeets, Ines Nevelsteen, Kevin Punie, Patrick Neven, Hans Wildiers, Wouter Van Den Bogaert, Giuseppe Floris, Christine Desmedt. HER2-16 Inter-lesion heterogeneity of HER2-status in metastatic breast cancer: possible implications for treatment with anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugates. [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 HER2-16.