Nonadherence to long-term treatments is often under-recognized by physicians and there is no gold standard for its assessment. In breast cancer, nonadherence to tamoxifen therapy after surgery ...constitutes a major obstacle to optimal outcomes. We sought to evaluate the rate of biochemical nonadherence to adjuvant tamoxifen using serum assessment and to examine its effects on short-term, distant disease-free survival (DDFS).
We studied 1,177 premenopausal women enrolled in a large prospective study (CANTO/NCT01993498). Definition of biochemical nonadherence was based on a tamoxifen serum level < 60 ng/mL, assessed 1 year after prescription. Self-reported nonadherence to tamoxifen therapy was collected at the same time through semistructured interviews. Survival analyses were conducted using an inverse probability weighted Cox proportional hazards model, using a propensity score based on age, staging, surgery, chemotherapy, and center size.
Serum assessment of tamoxifen identified 16.0% of patients (n = 188) below the set adherence threshold. Patient-reported rate of nonadherence was lower (12.3%). Of 188 patients who did not adhere to the tamoxifen prescription, 55% self-reported adherence to tamoxifen. After a median follow-up of 24.2 months since tamoxifen serum assessment, patients who were biochemically nonadherent had significantly shorter DDFS (for distant recurrence or death, adjusted hazard ratio, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.05 to 5.06;
= .036), with 89.5% of patients alive without distant recurrence at 3 years in the nonadherent cohort versus 95.4% in the adherent cohort.
Therapeutic drug monitoring may be a useful method to promptly identify patients who do not take adjuvant tamoxifen as prescribed and are at risk for poorer outcomes. Targeted interventions facilitating patient adherence are needed and have the potential to improve short-term breast cancer outcomes.
Advance care planning is essential to enable informed medical decisions to be made and to reduce aggressiveness in end-of-life (EOL) care.
This study aimed to explore whether a question prompt list ...(QPL) adapted to French language and culture could promote discussions, particularly on prognosis and EOL issues, among advanced cancer patients attending outpatient palliative care (PC) consultations.
In this multicenter randomized study, patients assigned to the intervention arm received a QPL to help them prepare for the next consultation one month later. The main inclusion criteria were advanced cancer patients referred to the PC team with an estimated life expectancy of less than one year. The primary endpoint was the number of questions raised, globally and by topic. The secondary objectives were the impact of the QPL on psychological symptoms, quality of life, satisfaction with care, and coping styles at two months.
Patients (n = 71) in the QPL arm asked more questions (mean 21.8 vs. 18.2, P = 0.03) than patients in the control arm (n = 71), particularly on PC (5.6 vs. 3.7, P = 0.012) and EOL issues (2.2 vs. 1, P = 0.018) but not on prognosis (4.3 vs. 3.6, not specified). At two months, there was no change in anxiety, depression, or quality of life in either arm; patient satisfaction with doctors' technical skills was scored higher (P = 0.024), and avoidance coping responses were less frequent (self-distraction, P = 0.015; behavioral disengagement, P = 0.025) in the QPL arm.
Questions on PC and EOL issues in outpatient PC consultations were more frequent, and patient satisfaction was better when a QPL was made available before the consultation.
Although there is evidence that redox regulation has an essential role in malignancies, its impact on tumor prognosis remains unclear. Here we show crosstalk between oxidative stress and the miR-200 ...family of microRNAs that affects tumorigenesis and chemosensitivity. miR-141 and miR-200a target p38α and modulate the oxidative stress response. Enhanced expression of these microRNAs mimics p38α deficiency and increases tumor growth in mouse models, but it also improves the response to chemotherapeutic agents. High-grade human ovarian adenocarcinomas that accumulate miR-200a have low concentrations of p38α and an associated oxidative stress signature. The miR200a-dependent stress signature correlates with improved survival of patients in response to treatment. Therefore, the role of miR-200a in stress could be a predictive marker for clinical outcome in ovarian cancer. In addition, although oxidative stress promotes tumor growth, it also sensitizes tumors to treatment, which could account for the limited success of antioxidants in clinical trials.
In nonmetastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients, we investigated whether circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection can reflect the tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) and ...detect minimal residual disease after surgery.
Ten milliliters of plasma were collected at 4 time points: before NCT; after 1 cycle; before surgery; after surgery. Customized droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays were used to track tumor protein p53 (
) mutations previously characterized in tumor tissue by massively parallel sequencing (MPS).
Forty-six patients with nonmetastatic TNBC were enrolled.
mutations were identified in 40 of them. Customized ddPCR probes were validated for 38 patients, with excellent correlation with MPS (
= 0.99), specificity (≥2 droplets/assay), and sensitivity (at least 0.1%). At baseline, ctDNA was detected in 27/36 patients (75%). Its detection was associated with mitotic index (
= 0.003), tumor grade (
= 0.003), and stage (
= 0.03). During treatment, we observed a drop of ctDNA levels in all patients but 1. No patient had detectable ctDNA after surgery. The patient with rising ctDNA levels experienced tumor progression during NCT. Pathological complete response (16/38 patients) was not correlated with ctDNA detection at any time point. ctDNA positivity after 1 cycle of NCT was correlated with shorter disease-free (
< 0.001) and overall (
= 0.006) survival.
Customized ctDNA detection by ddPCR achieved a 75% detection rate at baseline. During NCT, ctDNA levels decreased quickly and minimal residual disease was not detected after surgery. However, a slow decrease of ctDNA level during NCT was strongly associated with shorter survival.
Palbociclib in combination with endocrine therapy increases progression-free survival in patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer (BC). In this study, we retrospectively ...evaluated safety in the first patient treated with concurrent use of palbociclib and radiation therapy (RT) in the Curie Institute. Between April 2017 and August 2019, 30 women with metastatic BC received locoregional and/or symptomatic irradiation at a metastatic site concurrently with palbociclib. The most common acute toxicities were radiodermatitis and neutropenia. Palbociclib had to be discontinued during RT in three locally treated patients who developed grade 3 radiodermatitis and febrile neutropenia, grade 2 dysphagia and metastatic disease progression, respectively. After a follow-up of at least 6 months, none of the patients had late toxicity. Concomitant administration of palbociclib with RT was reasonably well tolerated in our series of 30 patients. More prospective data with longer follow-up are needed to confirm these results.
Onapristone is a type I progesterone receptor (PR) antagonist, which prevents PR- mediated DNA transcription. Onapristone is active in multiple preclinical models and two prior studies demonstrated ...promising activity in patients with breast cancer. We conducted a study of extended release (ER) Onapristone to determine a recommended dose and explore the role of transcriptionally-activated PR (APR), detected as an aggregated subnuclear distribution pattern, as a predictive biomarker.
An open-label, multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, phase 1 study (target n = 60; NCT02052128) included female patients ≥18 years with PRpos tumors. APR analysis was performed on archival tumor tissue. Patients were randomized to five cohorts of extended release (ER) onapristone tablets 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 mg BID, or immediate release 100 mg QD until progressive disease or intolerability. Primary endpoint was to identify the recommended phase 2 dose. Secondary endpoints included safety, clinical benefit and pharmacokinetics.
The phase 1 dose escalation component of the study is complete (n = 52). Tumor diagnosis included: endometrial carcinoma 12; breast cancer 20; ovarian cancer 13; other 7. Median age was 64 (36-84). No dose limiting toxicity was observed with reported liver function test elevation related only to liver metastases. The RP2D was 50 mg ER BID. Median therapy duration was 8 weeks (range 2-44), and 9 patients had clinical benefit ≥24 weeks, including 2 patients with APRpos endometrial carcinoma.
Clinical benefit with excellent tolerance was seen in heavily pretreated patients with endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer. The data support the development of Onapristone in endometrial endometrioid cancer. Onapristone should also be evaluated in ovarian and breast cancers along with APR immunohistochemistry validation.
Previous cohort studies have reported plasma TK1 activity (pTKa) as a potential prognostic biomarker in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) HER2-negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). In this ...prospective study, we report here the prognostic impact of pTKa in ER+/HER2- MBC patients treated with endocrine therapy and CDK4/6 inhibitor.
Patients were included into the prospective, ethics committee-approved ALCINA study (NCT02866149). Eligibility criteria were patients with ER+/HER2- MBC treated at Institut Curie with endocrine therapy and palbociclib. Plasma samples were obtained at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment. pTKa was quantified by the DiviTum® assay (Biovica, Sweden).
From May 2016 to August 2018, 103 patients treated with endocrine therapy and palbociclib were included. Patients had received a median of two prior systemic therapies for MBC (range 0-14). Median follow-up was 13.8 months (range 6-31), with median PFS and OS of 9.6 months (95%CI 7.0-11.3) and 28 months (95%CI 23-not reached), respectively. Median baseline pTKa was 292 Du/L (range 20-27,312 Du/L, IQR 89-853). After adjusting for other prognostic factors, baseline pTKa remained an independent prognostic factor for both PFS (HR = 1.3 95%CI 1.1-1.4, p = 0.0005) and OS (HR = 1.3 95%CI 1.2-1.6, p < 0.0001), and 4-week pTKa was associated with OS (HR = 1.6 95%CI 1.3-2, p < 0.0001). That survival prediction was significantly improved by the addition of baseline pTKa to clinicopathological characteristics. Adding pTKa changes at 4 weeks to baseline pTKa did not further increase survival prediction.
This study demonstrates the clinical validity of pTKa as a new circulating prognostic marker in ER+/HER2- MBC patients treated with endocrine therapy and palbociclib.
Cancer patients have been reported to be at higher risk of COVID-19 complications and deaths. We report the characteristics and outcome of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during breast cancer ...treatment at Institut Curie hospitals (ICH, Paris area, France).
An IRB-approved prospective registry was set up at ICH on March 13, 2020, for all breast cancer patients with COVID-19 symptoms or radiologic signs. Registered data included patient history, tumor characteristics and treatments, COVID-19 symptoms, radiological features, and outcome. Data extraction was done on April 25, 2020. COVID-19 patients were defined as those with either a positive RNA test or typical, newly appeared lung CT scan abnormalities.
Among 15,600 patients actively treated for early or metastatic breast cancer during the last 4 months at ICH, 76 patients with suspected COVID-19 infection were included in the registry and followed. Fifty-nine of these patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 based on viral RNA testing (N = 41) or typical radiologic signs: 37/59 (63%) COVID-19 patients were treated for metastatic breast cancer, and 13/59 (22%) of them were taking corticosteroids daily. Common clinical features mostly consisted of fever and/or cough, while ground-glass opacities were the most common radiologic sign at diagnosis. We found no association between prior radiation therapy fields or extent of radiation therapy sequelae and extent of COVID-19 lung lesions. Twenty-eight of these 59 patients (47%) were hospitalized, and 6 (10%) were transferred to an intensive care unit. At the time of analysis, 45/59 (76%) patients were recovering or had been cured, 10/59 (17%) were still followed, and 4/59 (7%) had died from COVID-19. All 4 patients who died had significant non-cancer comorbidities. In univariate analysis, hypertension and age (> 70) were the two factors associated with a higher risk of intensive care unit admission and/or death.
This prospective registry analysis suggests that the COVID-19 mortality rate in breast cancer patients depends more on comorbidities than prior radiation therapy or current anti-cancer treatment. Special attention must be paid to comorbidities when estimating the risk of severe COVID-19 in breast cancer patients.
Women with hormone-dependent breast cancer are treated with aromatase inhibitors (AI) to slow disease progression by decreasing estrogen levels. However, AI have adverse effects, including pain, with ...potentially serious impact on quality of life (QOL) and treatment compliance. We evaluated quality of life during the first year of AI treatment, focusing particularly on the impact of pain. In a multicenter cohort study of 135 women with early-stage breast cancer, free of pain at the initiation of AI treatment, quality of life (by the EORTC QLQ-BR23), somatic and psychic symptoms, psychological characters, temperament and coping strategies were assessed at baseline and at each follow-up visit (1, 3, 6 and 12 months). The impact of treatment-induced pain on quality of life during follow-up was determined with repeated-measures regression models. These models were constructed to assess the effects of pain and pain type on quality of life during follow-up, taking into account predictors associated with quality of life at baseline. Prior ganglion resection, taxane treatment and chemotherapy, a high amplification score on the pain catastrophizing scale, and a high harm avoidance score on the personality questionnaire were associated with a significantly lower baseline QOL. Fifty-seven percent of women developed pain of five different types: upper or lower limb joint pain, diffuse pain, neuropathic pain, tendon pain and mixed pain. A significant decrease in QOL was noted in the women with pain, particularly for body image, sexual functioning and future perspectives. Moreover, the impact of pain on QOL depended on the type of pain experienced. In conclusion, women treated with aromatase inhibitors display changes in quality of life and the degree of change in quality of life depends mostly on the type of pain experienced. Oncologists and patients should be aware of painful adverse effects of AI and encouraged to provide or receive earlier and more appropriate management of these effects.
The objective of the present study was to review the essential knowledge about the combinations of the most commonly used or under development targeted treatments and radiation therapy (RT).
...Preclinical and clinical studies investigating this combination were extensively reviewed.
Several studies showed that the combination of RT and tamoxifen increased the risk of radiation-induced pulmonary toxicity; therefore, both modalities should not be given concomitantly. The combination of HER2 inhibitors (trastuzumab, pertuzumab) and RT seems to be safe. However, trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) should not be administered concurrently with brain RT since this combination could increase the risk of brain radionecrosis. The combination of RT and other new target treatments such as selective estrogen receptor degradants, lapatinib, cell cycle inhibitors, immune checkpoint inhibitors, or molecules acting on DNA damage repair seems feasible but was essentially evaluated on retrospective or prospective studies with a small number of patients. Furthermore, there is considerable heterogeneity among these studies regarding the dose and fractionation of radiation, the dosage of drugs, and the sequence of treatments used.
The combination of RT with most targeted therapies for BC appears to be well-tolerated, but these results need to be confirmed in prospective randomized studies.
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