Abstract PD13-02: PD13-02 Exploratory gene expression analysis of coopERA Breast Cancer (BC): a study evaluating neoadjuvant giredestrant versus anastrozole alone and in combination with palbociclib in ER-positive, HER2-negative untreated early BC
Authors: Chibly Alejandro M. , Fernando Tharu M. , Metcalfe Ciara , Hafner Marc , Owusu-Manu Gilbert , Hurvitz Sara , Bardia Aditya , Fasching Peter A. , Park Yeon H. , Quiroga Vanesa , Steinseifer Jutta , Perez-Moreno Pablo , Moore Heather M. 
Published: March 2023

Background: Endocrine therapy remains the mainstay treatment for ER+ BC. CDK4/6 inhibitors induce cell cycle arrest and decrease tumor cell proliferation, as measured by the biomarker Ki67, when used in combination with aromatase inhibitors (AI) such as anastrozole (A). Giredestrant is an oral, well-tolerated, and highly potent selective ER degrader (SERD) that achieves robust ER suppression and has demonstrated antitumor activity in the metastatic setting either as monotherapy or in combination with the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib. The randomized, phase 2 coopERA Breast Cancer study (NCT04436744) evaluated giredestrant in postmenopausal women with untreated ER+/HER2- early BC and met its primary endpoint, demonstrating superior Ki67 suppression with giredestrant vs A after two weeks of single agent treatment. This suppression was maintained at surgery where giredestrant vs A was evaluated in combination with palbociclib. Here, we present gene expression analysis and associations with Ki67 response. Methods: 221 eligible patients with measurable ER+/HER2– untreated early BC and baseline Ki67 ≥ 5% were randomized 1:1 to receive 30 mg oral daily (PO QD) giredestrant or 1 mg PO QD A on Days 1–14 of a neoadjuvant window-of-opportunity phase, followed by four 28-day cycles of PO QD giredestrant or A with 125 mg PO QD palbociclib on Days 1–21 before surgery. FFPE specimens were collected at baseline, week 2 and surgery; and RNA-sequencing (seq) was performed. Gene expression analysis included ER pathway activity, PAM50 intrinsic subtypes, and other pathway analyses, assessed by Ki67 response. Results: 112 and 92 patients had paired tumor samples at baseline/week 2 and baseline/surgery, respectively, that were evaluable for RNA-seq and Ki67. The trend for greater Ki67 protein suppression by giredestrant vs A from baseline to week 2 was maintained in the RNA-seq evaluable subset. Interestingly, the same subset revealed similar suppression of both proliferation gene signatures and ER pathway activity between A and giredestrant. PAM50 subtyping showed that 69% of tumors were luminal (Lum) A and 29% were LumB at baseline. Less than 1% were classified as basal or HER2. Interestingly, giredestrant (G) showed greater suppression of both Ki67 and ER pathway activity vs A in LumB tumors (Ki67: -82% [G] vs -62% [A]; ER activity: -0.83 [G] vs -0.66 [A]) compared to LumA at week 2 (Ki67: -74% [G] vs -71% [A]; ER activity: -0.60 [G] vs -0.70 [A]). Moreover, at week 2, 83% (13/18) of LumB tumors at baseline transitioned into a LumA subtype after giredestrant treatment compared to 46% (5/11) of A-treated tumors. Giredestrant-treated tumors also achieved lower mean ER pathway activity compared to those treated with A at surgery (p=0.023). Gene set enrichment analysis showed downregulation of cell-cycle and ER-related pathways at week 2 and surgery in both treatment arms. A subset of cytokine signaling and immune response pathways were increased at week 2 compared to baseline after treatment with A but not with giredestrant. These pathways were also associated with Ki67 resistance (Ki67 ≥ 7.4%) in A-treated tumors. This was consistent with differential expression analysis of samples collected at week 2, in which cytokine signaling pathways were enriched in A compared to giredestrant. Notably, IL12 signaling was enriched in tumors resistant to A but not giredestrant. Conclusions: Giredestrant has a greater effect on Ki67 protein suppression in ER+/HER2- early BC compared to A, which is more pronounced in LumB tumors. This benefit may involve differential regulation of cytokine and immune responses. These exploratory findings reveal novel mechanisms that may differentiate the activity of SERDs vs AIs, which warrant further validation.

Citation Format: Alejandro M. Chibly, Tharu M. Fernando, Ciara Metcalfe, Marc Hafner, Gilbert Owusu-Manu, Sara Hurvitz, Aditya Bardia, Peter A. Fasching, Yeon H. Park, Vanesa Quiroga, Jutta Steinseifer, Pablo Perez-Moreno, Heather M. Moore. PD13-02 Exploratory gene expression analysis of coopERA Breast Cancer (BC): a study evaluating neoadjuvant giredestrant versus anastrozole alone and in combination with palbociclib in ER-positive, HER2-negative untreated early BC [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 PD13-02.