Abstract PD2-01: Personalized serial circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis in high-risk early stage breast cancer patients to monitor and predict response to neoadjuvant therapy and outcome in the I-SPY 2 TRIAL
Authors: Magbanua MJM , Brown-Swigart L , Hirst GL , Yau C , Wolf D , Ma AA , Bergin E , Venters S , Sethi H , Wu H-T , Salari R , Tin T , Sawyer S , Louie M , Zimmermann B , Lin C-HJ , Keats J , Liang WS , Cuyugan L , Enriquez D , Tripathy D , Chien AJ , Forero A , DeMichele A , Liu M , Delson AL , Asare S , Esserman L , van't Veer L ,   I-SPY 2 Consortium
Published: May 2019

ctDNA analysis offers a non-invasive approach for monitoring response and resistance to treatment. Serial ctDNA testing during neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) may provide early indicators of emerging resistance and disease progression. In this study, we analyzed ctDNA from high-risk early breast cancer patients who received NAT and definitive surgery in the I-SPY 2 TRIAL (NCT01042379). We hypothesize that (1) assessment of ctDNA levels early in treatment will improve the performance of molecular and imaging-based predictors of pathologic complete response (pCR) to NAT; and (2) levels of ctDNA after NAT are associated with residual cancer burden and recurrence [distant recurrence free survival (DRFS)].

Methods: ctDNA analysis was performed in 84 high-risk stage II and III breast cancer patients randomized to neoadjuvant investigational agent (n=52), AKT inhibitor MK-2206 (M) in combination with paclitaxel (T) followed by doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) (M+T-&gt;AC), or standard-of-care (T-&gt;AC) (n=32). HER2+ patients also received trastuzumab (H).

Serial plasma was collected before NAT (T0), early treatment (3 weeks, T1), between regimens (12 weeks, T2), and after NAT prior to surgery (T3). Mutational profiles derived from pretreatment tumor biopsy and normal matched DNA whole exome sequencing were used to design personalized assays targeting 16 patient-specific somatic variants to detect ctDNA in serial plasma.

Results: Of the 84 patients in this study, 43% were HR-/HER2- (TNBC), 35% HR+/HER2-, and 23% HER2+. In total, 74% (61 of 83), 35% (28 of 79), 14% (9 of 65), and 8% (5 of 61) were positive for ctDNA at timepoints T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively. At T0, ctDNA positivity and levels (average number of mutant molecules detected per mL) were significantly associated with increased tumor burden (by clinical and MRI examination), more aggressive tumor biology (as reflected in higher Mammaprint scores and grade) and subtype (HER2+ and TNBC). Twenty-seven percent (27%) of the 84 patients achieved a pCR and all patients who were ctDNA-positive at T3 (n=5) did not achieve a pCR. Currently, data are being collected to: (1) assess the relationship of ctDNA and MRI imaging in predicting tumor response to therapy; (2) examine the relationship of ctDNA levels before and after NAT with 3-year DRFS and event-free survival (EFS). The results of these analyses will be presented at the SABCS 2018 meeting.

Conclusions: Our study provides a platform to evaluate the clinical significance of ctDNA for serial monitoring of response to NAT. Accurate and early response prediction by highly sensitive ctDNA analysis can facilitate a timely and judicious change in treatment to improve patients' chances of achieving a pCR. Finally, personalized ctDNA testing may complement imaging and pathologic evaluation of tumor response to fine-tune pCR as a surrogate endpoint for improved DRFS and EFS.

Citation Format: Magbanua MJM, Brown-Swigart L, Hirst GL, Yau C, Wolf D, Ma AA, Bergin E, Venters S, Sethi H, Wu H-T, Salari R, Tin T, Sawyer S, Louie M, Zimmermann B, Lin C-HJ, Keats J, Liang WS, Cuyugan L, Enriquez D, Tripathy D, Chien AJ, Forero A, DeMichele A, Liu M, Delson AL, Asare S, Esserman L, van't Veer L, I-SPY 2 Consortium. Personalized serial circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis in high-risk early stage breast cancer patients to monitor and predict response to neoadjuvant therapy and outcome in the I-SPY 2 TRIAL [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD2-01.