Abstract PS12-02: Exploration of ctDNA Dynamics in the PACE Trial: A Randomized Phase II Study of Fulvestrant, Palbociclib, and Avelumab for HR+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer
Authors: Jeselsohn Rinath , Fu Jingxin , Ren Yue , Mahtani Reshma , Ma Cynthia , DeMichele Angela , Cristofanilli Massimo , Meisel Jane , Miller Kathy , Abdou Yara , Riley Elizabeth , Qamar Rubina , Sharma Priyanka , Reid Sonya , Ko Naomi , Liu Yuan , Burstein Harold , DeMeo Michelle , Tolaney Sara , Mayer Erica 
Published: May 2024

Background

The PACE trial for HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (MBC) prospectively evaluated whether continuation of the CKD4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i) palbociclib (P) beyond progression on prior CDK4/6i and aromatase inhibitor (AI), with a change in endocrine therapy (ET) to fulvestrant (F), improved outcomes beyond change to F alone, as well as explored the activity of a palbociclib, fulvestrant, and avelumab (P+F+A) triplet. The primary analysis did not show improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) with F+P versus F alone. In this analysis, an evaluation of serial translational PACE samples was performed to gain insights into the mutational landscape of HR+/HER2- MBC after prolonged exposure to CDK4/6i, evaluate early mutational dynamics with ongoing therapy, and identify potential genetic markers predictive of treatment response. Additionally, the identification of acquired mutations at the time of tumor progression could provide valuable information about mechanisms of treatment resistance.

Methods

PACE is a multicenter randomized open-label investigator-initiated phase II trial. Eligible patients (pts) had HR+/HER2- evaluable MBC with prior progression on AI and any CDK4/6i after &gt; 6 months (mo) of therapy in the MBC setting, or during/within 12 mo in the adjuvant setting, with no more than 1 prior line of chemotherapy for MBC. Pts were randomized 1:2:1 to F alone, F+P, or F+P+A, with tumor assessments every 8 weeks. Correlative samples including circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) were collected at baseline (BL), times of tumor assessments (C3D1), and end of study/progression (EOT). Targeted NGS (Guardant360) to evaluate mutations (somatic single nucleotide variants and indels) was performed. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used for assessing PFS and the log-rank test for comparisons. McNemar’s test with continuity correction was used to test the changes in the frequency of mutations.

Results

Of the 220 randomized pts, 211 contributed ctDNA samples (200 at BL, 129 at C3D1, 146 at EOT). Characteristics of the correlative science population were similar to the intention to treat population. At BL, the most common mutations observed were ESR1 (57%), TP53 (38%), PIK3CA (36%), GATA3 (20%) ATM (12%) and Rb1 (12%). The presence of a PIK3CA mutation vs WT-PIK3CA at BL was associated with shorter PFS in the F alone arm (p=0.001) but not in the F+P or F+P+A arms. ESR1 mutations present at baseline were D538G (34%), Y537S (21%), Y537N (15%), E380Q (10%) and L536H (4%). At C3D1, the most common mutations observed were ESR1 (47%), TP53 (33%), PIK3CA (26.1), GATA3 (18.1), ATM (13%) and PTEN (8.6%). Including only BL and C3D1 matched samples (N=124), the prevalence of ESR1 mutations decreased after 2 cycles of treatment (57% at BL vs 44% at C3D1), predominantly observed in the F+P+A arm. For those in any arm with at least 6 months of disease stability on study (N=53), the presence of an ESR1 D538G mutation decreased during therapy, with 38% having a mutation at BL, 24% at C3D1, and no pts gaining ESR1 D538G at C3D1. The prevalence of PIK3CA mutations also decreased on treatment (32% at BL to 24% at C3D1), with the greatest decrease in the F+P arm. A predictive model correlating early genomic dynamics and associations with outcome will be presented.

Conclusions

The PACE trial offers one of the largest clinical trial cohorts describing the genomic landscape of HR+/HER2- MBC post-CDK4/6 exposure. Results from this correlative study provide a comprehensive mutational landscape post-CDK4/6i, demonstrate associations between mutations and clinical outcomes, and suggest the potential value of early ctDNA dynamics in this setting.

Citation Format: Rinath Jeselsohn, Jingxin Fu, Yue Ren, Reshma Mahtani, Cynthia Ma, Angela DeMichele, Massimo Cristofanilli, Jane Meisel, Kathy Miller, Yara Abdou, Elizabeth Riley, Rubina Qamar, Priyanka Sharma, Sonya Reid, Naomi Ko, Yuan Liu, Harold Burstein, Michelle DeMeo, Sara Tolaney, Erica Mayer. Exploration of ctDNA Dynamics in the PACE Trial: A Randomized Phase II Study of Fulvestrant, Palbociclib, and Avelumab for HR+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer [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 PS12-02.