Abstract PO1-01-13: Clinical characterization, prognostic and predictive values of HER2-low in early breast cancer in the PALLAS trial
Authors: Nader-Marta Guilherme , Singer Christian F. , Hlauschek Dominik , DeMichele Angela , Tarantino Paolo , Pfeiler Georg , Martín Miguel , Balko Justin , Nowecki Zbigniew , Balic Marija , Brufsky Adam , Chan Arlene , Morris Patrick G. , Haddad Tufia , Loibl Sibylle , Liu Yuan , Sölkner Lidija , Fesl Christian , Mayer Erica , Gnant Michael 
Published: May 2024

Background: Low levels of HER2 expression (HER2-low) have recently emerged as a therapeutic target in patients (pts) with breast cancer (BC). The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical and demographic variables associated with HER2 expression, as well as the value of HER2-low as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for palbociclib benefit in pts enrolled in the PALLAS trial. Methods: The phase III PALLAS trial investigated the addition of palbociclib to adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) in pts with stage II-III hormone receptor-positive BC. The aims of this analysis are (1) to assess the association between the presence of low levels of HER2 expression with demographic and clinicopathological parameters, (2) to test the prognostic value of HER2-low status on invasive disease-free survival (IDFS), distant relapse-free survival (DRFS), and overall survival (OS) and (3) to assess the value of HER2 expression as a predictive biomarker of response to palbociclib. HER2-low was defined as HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) 1+ or IHC 2+ with negative in situ hybridization; all pathologic evaluation was performed locally. Pts with HER2-0 and Her2-low BC were included in this analysis; those with HER2-positive BC or missing HER2 status were excluded. Association of HER2 with other baseline covariates were tested with Chi-squared tests. Prognostic and predictive power of HER2 were assessed with Cox Models. Multivariable models included age, T-stage, N-stage, grade and progesterone receptor (PR) expression. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% Confidence intervals (CI) are reported. Results: From the original PALLAS intention-to-treat population (N = 5,753), 5304 pts (92.2%) were included in this analysis. Among these, 2,254 pts (42.5%) were classified as HER2 IHC 0 (HER2-0) and 3,050 (57.5%) as HER2-low (1,838 with IHC 1+ and 1,212 with IHC 2+). For this analysis, median follow-up was 59.8 months. Compared to HER2-0, pts with HER2-low tumors had statistically higher estrogen receptor expression levels (mean expression 89.2% vs 88.2%, p = 0.019), lower PR expression levels (65.9% vs 68.2%, p = 0.007). Importantly, HER2-low status varied significantly across 21 participating countries (range 16.7% to 75.6%; p&lt; 0.001) and was more frequent in pts enrolled in North America (63.1%) than in Europe (53.4%) and other regions (53.4%) (p &lt; 0.001). No differences in HER2 expression were observed according to anatomic stage, T-stage, N-stage, histological grade, age, menopausal status, primary surgery type, prior radiation, prior chemotherapy, or baseline performance status. There were no statistically significant differences in IDFS, DRFS or OS according to HER2 status in univariate or multivariable Cox models (prognostic value, HR provided in the Table). There was no significant interaction between the HER2 status and the benefit to palbociclib in IDFS, DRFS or OS (Table). Similar results were obtained when HER2-0 was compared to HER2 1+ and HER2 2+ separately. Conclusions: In this large, prospective and international cohort, no differences were observed in clinical parameters, prognosis, or differential benefit from palbociclib (predictive value) between HER2-0 and HER2-low tumors. Significant geographic variability was observed in the prevalence of HER2-low status, suggesting a high degree of variation in pathologic assessment of HER2 expression without impact on outcomes. Support: AFT, Abbvie Pfizer; Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02513394 https://acknowledgments.alliancefound.org

Citation Format: Guilherme Nader-Marta, Christian F. Singer, Dominik Hlauschek, Angela DeMichele, Paolo Tarantino, Georg Pfeiler, Miguel Martín, Justin Balko, Zbigniew Nowecki, Marija Balic, Adam Brufsky, Arlene Chan, Patrick G. Morris, Tufia Haddad, Sibylle Loibl, Yuan Liu, Lidija Sölkner, Christian Fesl, Erica Mayer, Michael Gnant. Clinical characterization, prognostic and predictive values of HER2-low in early breast cancer in the PALLAS trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO1-01-13.