Abstract P1-05-15: DCE-MRI for early prediction of excellent response versus chemoresistance in triple negative breast cancer
Authors: Guirguis Mary S. , Adrada Beatriz , Patel Miral , Perez Frances , Candelaria Rosalind , Yang Wei , Sun Jia , Mohamed Rania M. , Boge Medine , Le-Petross H. T. Carisa , Leung Jessica , Whitman Gary J. , Lane Deanna L. , Scoggins Marion E. , Moseley Tanya , Musall Benjamin , White Jason , Pashapoor Sanaz , Wei Peng , Son Jong Bum , Hwang Ken-Pin , Panthi Bikash , Pagel Mark , Huo Lei , Hunt Kelly K. , Ravenberg Elizabeth , Thompson Alastair M. , Litton Jennifer K. , Valero Vicente , Tripathy Debu , Moulder Stacy , Yam Clinton , Ma Jingfei , Rauch Gaiane 
Published: March 2023

PURPOSE Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease with variable response to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). Pathologic complete response (pCR) has become a prognostic marker for overall and disease-free survival. The aim of this study was to determine if dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI after 2 and/or 4 cycles of NAT can identify patients with a high likelihood of achieving pCR, triaging them to standard of care (SOC), or, when appropriate, to de-escalation trials. Conversely, we aimed to identify chemoresistant tumors that are unlikely to achieve pCR and may benefit from escalated targeted trials.

METHOD AND MATERIALS 309 patients with stage I-III TNBC underwent DCE-MRI (temporal resolution: 9-12 sec) at baseline (BL), 2 cycles (C2), and 4 cycles (C4) of SOC doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (AC) NAT as part of a prospective IRB-approved study (NCT02276443). Tumor volumes of the index lesion were calculated using 3 axis measurements during the early phase of the DCE-MRI (60s). Percent tumor volume reduction (TVR) between BL, C2, and C4 was calculated. Patients were randomly assigned to a training or a validation cohort in a 1:1 ratio. pCR was assessed at surgery after completion of SOC NAT. Correlation between pCR and TVR was evaluated using ROC analysis.

RESULTS Of 309 TNBC patients, 136 (44%) achieved pCR. Following 2 cycles of NAT, TVR &gt;80% was predictive of pCR (chemosensitivity), while TVR ≤ 55% was predictive of non-pCR (chemoresistance) with PPV 80%, NPV 89%, AUC 0.811 (0.73~0.893, p&lt; 0.0001) in the training cohort, and PPV 82%, NPV 85%, AUC 0.815 (CI:0.736~0.894, p&lt; 0.0001) in the validation cohort. Following 4 cycles of NAT, TVR &gt;90% was predictive of pCR, while TVR ≤80% was predictive of non-pCR with PPV 80%, NPV 84%, AUC 0.827 (0.756~0.898, p&lt; 0.0001) in the training cohort and with PPV 73%, NPV 82%, AUC 0.785 (CI:0.709~0.862, p&lt; 0.001) in the validation cohort. Using this model, the pCR status was correctly classified in 50% of TNBC patients using C2 DCE-MRI in the training cohort, and 54% in the validation cohort. Only 8% were misclassified in the training cohort, and 10% in the validation cohort. Using C4 DCE-MRI, the pCR status of 61% and 57% of TNBC was correctly classified in the validation and the testing cohorts, respectively. 12% were misclassified in the validation cohort, and 21% in the testing cohort.

CONCLUSION DCE-MRI after 2 and 4 cycles of AC-based NAT correctly predicted the pCR status of 54% and 57% of TNBC patients, respectively, as either excellent responders or nonresponders with high AUC 0.811 and 0.827. This may allow patients to be triaged to SOC NAT with option of de-escalation or early targeted therapies for non-responders.

Citation Format: Mary S. Guirguis, Beatriz Adrada, Miral Patel, Frances Perez, Rosalind Candelaria, Wei Yang, Jia Sun, Rania M. Mohamed, Medine Boge, H. T. Carisa Le-Petross, Jessica Leung, Gary J. Whitman, Deanna L. Lane, Marion E. Scoggins, Tanya Moseley, Benjamin Musall, Jason White, Sanaz Pashapoor, Peng Wei, Jong Bum Son, Ken-Pin Hwang, Bikash Panthi, Mark Pagel, Lei Huo, Kelly K. Hunt, Elizabeth Ravenberg, Alastair M. Thompson, Jennifer K. Litton, Vicente Valero, Debu Tripathy, Stacy Moulder, Clinton Yam, Jingfei Ma, Gaiane Rauch. DCE-MRI for early prediction of excellent response versus chemoresistance in triple negative breast cancer [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 P1-05-15.