Search

The article discusses several studies on breast cancer. A research noted that mortality may be reduced in association with high levels of dietary flavones and isoflavones among postmenopausal breast cancer patients. A study suggested that surgical removal of the primary tumor may be associated with a survival advantage in patients with stage IV breast cancer. Another research assessed that the Gail model significantly underestimates the risk of breast cancer in women with atypia.

Background: Pertuzumab (P) is a monoclonal antibody which binds to extracellular domain II of HER2 distally from trastuzumab (H), disrupting HER2 dimerization and signaling. The CLEOPATRA phase III trial showed that HP + docetaxel in HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (MBC) prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) compared to placebo + H + docetaxel. We report preliminary results of a phase II study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of weekly paclitaxel with HP (THP). Methods: Patients (pts) with HER2+ MBC with 0-1 prior treatment (Rx) are eligible. Pts receive weekly (w) paclitaxel (80mg/m²), q3w trastuzumab (loading dose 8mg/kg → 6mg/kg), and q3w pertuzumab (flat loading dose 840mg → flat dose 420mg). The primary endpoint is PFS at 6 months (mo). Secondary endpoints include response, safety (including cardiac events), and tolerability. Evaluable pts are those who have started study Rx and are assessed at 6 mo for PFS. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is monitored by echocardiogram every 3 mo. Cardiac events are defined as symptomatic LV systolic dysfunction (LVSD), non-LVSD cardiac death, or probable cardiac death. Results: As of 6-1 -12, 38 of the planned 69 pts were enrolled and 20 pts were evaluable at 6 mo. Median age is 52 years (range 32 to 72). A total of 11 pts (55%) previously received trastuzumab in the adjuvant or metastatic setting, and 8 pts (40%) were being treated in the second-line metastatic setting. Of the 20 evaluable pts, G 3/4 toxicities were sepsis (1 pt, 5%), cholecystitis (1 pt, 5%), fatigue (1 pt, 5%), skin ulceration (1 pt, 5%) and cystic macular degeneration (1 pt with prior prolonged Rx with paclitaxel, 5%). Common G 1/2 toxicities included alopecia (20 pts, 100%), peripheral neuropathy (20 pts, 100%), fatigue (18 pts, 90%), ALT/AST elevation (17 pts, 85%), diarrhea (15 pts, 75%), rash (13 pts, 65%), nail changes (10 pts, 50%), mucositis (9 pts, 45%), dry skin (8 pts, 40%), and nausea (8 pts, 40%). Median LVEF was 64% at baseline (range 50% to 69%), 60% at 3mo (range 50% to 73%), and 60% at 6mo (range 49% to 67%). There were no cardiac events. At 6 mo, 15/20 pts (75%) were progression-free (2 CR, 8 PR and 5 SD); 5 pts had progressed. The 6 mo PFS results for all 38 enrolled patients will be updated. Conclusions: Our single-center phase II study continues to accrue, with no clinically significant diarrhea or signal of increased cardiac toxicity to date. Pertuzumab was recently FDA-approved in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel. If the estimate of safety and activity is similar to results with docetaxel in CLEOPATRA, this study will provide support for weekly paclitaxel as an alternative option in combination with trastuzumab and pertuzumab in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local cryoablation can engender systemic immune activation/anticancer responses in tumors otherwise resistant to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). We evaluated the safety/tolerability of preoperative cryoablation plus ipilimumab and nivolumab in 5 early-stage/resectable breast cancers. The primary endpoint was met when all 5 patients underwent standard-of-care primary breast surgery undelayedly. Three patients developed transient hyperthyroidism; one developed grade 4 liver toxicity (resolved with supportive management). We compared this strategy with cryoablation and/or ipilimumab. Dual ICB plus cryoablation induced higher expression of T cell activation markers and serum Th1 cytokines and reduced immunosuppressive serum CD4 + PD-1 hi T cells, improving effector-to-suppressor T cell ratio. After dual ICB and before cryoablation, T cell receptor sequencing of 4 patients showed increased T cell clonality. In this small subset of patients, we provide preliminary evidence that preoperative cryoablation plus ipilimumab and nivolumab is feasible, inducing systemic adaptive immune activation potentially more robust than cryoablation with/without ipilimumab., Competing Interests: E.C. reports consulting for Pfizer, and Novartis. D.B.P. has served on advisory boards for Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Syndax, Nektar Therapeutics, Puma, Nanostring, Genentech, Brooklyn Immunotherapeutics, Sanofi, Biotheranostics, NGMBio, and Eli Lilly, received research funding from Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics, and WindMIL, and received speaking honoraria from Genentech and Novartis. P.W. reports consulting for Leap Therapeutics and uncompensated professional services/activities for Sellas Life Science Group. M.J. has received honoraria from Bayer and GE Healthcare. G.P. has served on advisory boards for Merck, Tizona, and Trishula Pharmaceuticals; provided professional services/activities for Paige.AI Inc; and received research funding from, and intellectual property rights with, Takeda. Y.B. has consulted for Hologic; provided professional services/activities for Boston Scientific and Pfizer; and received research grants from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation and the Society of Improved Medical Diagnosis. S.B.S. has consulted for Varian and received research grants from AngioDynamics, GE Healthcare, Elesta, and Johnson & Johnson; has equity in Adgero Biopharmaceuticals Inc, Aspire Bariatrics, EndoWays, Impulse Dynamics, Innoblative Designs, Johnson & Johnson, Lantheus Medical Imaging PC, Motus GI Holdings Inc, Poseida Therapeutics Inc, and SureFire LLC; has provided professional services/activities to Advantagene Inc, Microbot Medical Ltd, Olympus (compensated) and XACT Robotics Ltd (uncompensated); and has equity, fiduciary role/position, and intellectual property rights in Aperture Medical Technology. L.N. reports: Agenus Inc, Celgene Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, QLS Advisors LLC (professional services/activities); American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Breast Cancer Research Foundation, NewStem Ltd, Springer Nature Limited, Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium, United States Department of Justice (professional services and activities, uncompensated); Martell Diagnostic Laboratories Inc. (equity); Codagenix Inc, Immix Biopharma Inc (equity; professional services/activities); Cure Breast Cancer Foundation (intellectual property rights; professional services/activities, uncompensated), Samus Therapeutics LLC (equity; fiduciary role/position; professional services/activities, uncompensated). T.M. is a paid consultant for Immunos Therapeutics and Pfizer, is a co-founder and equity holder in IMVAQ Therapeutics, receives research support from Bristol Myers Squibb, Surface Oncology, Kyn Therapeutics, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Adaptive Biotechnologies, Leap Therapeutics, Inc., and Aprea, and is an inventor on patent applications related to work on oncolytic viral therapy, alpha virus-based vaccines, neoantigen modeling, CD40, GITR, OX40, PD-1, and CTLA-4. H.L.M. has consulted for Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Genentech/Roche, Immunomedics, Merck, OBI Pharma, Pfizer, Puma, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Peregrine, Calithera, Daiichi-Sankyo, Seattle Genetics, AstraZeneca, and TapImmune, and has received research support from Bristol Myers Squibb, MedImmune/AstraZeneca, BTG Ltd., and Merck. All reported research funding is administered by the institution. All disclosed relationships are outside the scope of the submitted work. The remaining authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Purpose: Clonal hematopoiesis (CH), the expansion of clones in the hematopoietic system, has been linked to different internal and external features such as aging, genetic ancestry, smoking, and oncologic treatment. However, the interplay between mutations in known cancer predisposition genes and CH has not been thoroughly examined in patients with solid tumors., Methods: We used prospective tumor-blood paired sequencing data from 46,906 patients who underwent Memorial Sloan Kettering-Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets (MSK-IMPACT) testing to interrogate the associations between CH and rare pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP) germline variants., Results: We observed an enrichment of CH-positive patients among those carrying P/LP germline mutations and identified a significant association between P/LP germline variants in ATM and CH. Germline and CH comutation patterns in ATM , TP53 , and CHEK2 suggested biallelic inactivation as a potential mediator of clonal expansion. Moreover, we observed that CH- PPM1D mutations, similar to somatic tumor-associated PPM1D mutations, were depleted in patients with P/LP germline mutations in the DNA damage response (DDR) genes ATM , CHEK2 , and TP53 . Patients with solid tumors and harboring P/LP germline mutations, CH mutations, and mosaicism chromosomal alterations might be at an increased risk of developing secondary leukemia while germline variants in TP53 were identified as an independent risk factor (hazard ratio, 36; P < .001) for secondary leukemias., Conclusion: Our results suggest a close relationship between inherited variants and CH mutations within the DDR genes in patients with solid tumors. Associations identified in this study might translate into enhanced clinical surveillance for CH and associated comorbidities in patients with cancer harboring these germline mutations.

Mosaic mutations in normal tissues can occur early in embryogenesis and be associated with hereditary cancer syndromes when affecting cancer susceptibility genes (CSG). Their contribution to apparently sporadic cancers is currently unknown. Analysis of paired tumor/blood sequencing data of 35,310 patients with cancer revealed 36 pathogenic mosaic variants affecting CSGs, most of which were not detected by prior clinical genetic testing. These CSG mosaic variants were consistently detected at varying variant allelic fractions in microdissected normal tissues (n = 48) from distinct embryonic lineages in all individuals tested, indicating their early embryonic origin, likely prior to gastrulation, and likely asymmetrical propagation. Tumor-specific biallelic inactivation of the CSG affected by a mosaic variant was observed in 91.7% (33/36) of cases, and tumors displayed the hallmark pathologic and/or genomic features of inactivation of the respective CSGs, establishing a causal link between CSG mosaic variants arising in early embryogenesis and the development of apparently sporadic cancers., Significance: Here, we demonstrate that mosaic variants in CSGs arising in early embryogenesis contribute to the oncogenesis of seemingly sporadic cancers. These variants can be systematically detected through the analysis of tumor/normal sequencing data, and their detection may affect therapeutic decisions as well as prophylactic measures for patients and their offspring. See related commentary by Liggett and Sankaran, p. 889. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 873., (©2021 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Background: Immunoglobulin E (IgE) blockade with omalizumab has demonstrated clinical benefit in pruritus-associated dermatoses (e.g. atopic dermatitis, bullous pemphigoid, urticaria). In oncology, pruritus-associated cutaneous adverse events (paCAEs) are frequent with immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) and targeted anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapies. Thus, we sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IgE blockade with omalizumab in cancer patients with refractory paCAEs related to CPIs and anti-HER2 agents., Patients and Methods: Patients included in this multicenter retrospective analysis received monthly subcutaneous injections of omalizumab for CPI or anti-HER2 therapy-related grade 2/3 pruritus that was refractory to topical corticosteroids plus at least one additional systemic intervention. To assess clinical response to omalizumab, we used the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. The primary endpoint was defined as reduction in the severity of paCAEs to grade 1/0., Results: A total of 34 patients (50% female, median age 67.5 years) received omalizumab for cancer therapy-related paCAEs (71% CPIs; 29% anti-HER2). All had solid tumors (29% breast, 29% genitourinary, 15% lung, 26% other), and most (n = 18, 64%) presented with an urticarial phenotype. In total 28 of 34 (82%) patients responded to omalizumab. The proportion of patients receiving oral corticosteroids as supportive treatment for management of paCAEs decreased with IgE blockade, from 50% to 9% (P < 0.001). Ten of 32 (31%) patients had interruption of oncologic therapy due to skin toxicity; four of six (67%) were successfully rechallenged following omalizumab. There were no reports of anaphylaxis or hypersensitivity reactions related to omalizumab., Conclusions: IgE blockade with omalizumab demonstrated clinical efficacy and was well tolerated in cancer patients with pruritus related to CPIs and anti-HER2 therapies., Competing Interests: Disclosure AM has an advisory board role in AstraZeneca, receives research funding from Incyte, and is supported by a Dermatology Foundation Career Development Award. EQ receives royalties from UpToDate. SAF receives research funding from AstraZeneca and Genentech/Roche, has a consulting/advisory relationship with Merck, and has ownership interests in Urogen, Allogene Therapeutics, Neogene Therapeutics, Kronos Bio, InconOVir and Vida Ventures. MHV reports receiving commercial research support from Pfizer and honoraria from Pfizer, Exelixis, Eisai, Calithera Biosciences, and Corvus Pharmaceuticals. AD discloses honoraria/advisory board participation for Ignyta/Genentech/Roche, Loxo/Bayer/Lilly, Takeda/Ariad/Millennium, TP Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Blueprint Medicines, Helsinn, Beigene, BergenBio, Hengrui Therapeutics, Exelixis, Tyra Biosciences, Verastem, and MORE Health; associated research funding paid to the institution from Pfizer, Exelixis, GlaxoSmithKline, Teva, Taiho, and PharmaMar; research for Foundation Medicine; royalties from Wolters Kluwer; expenses from Merck and Puma; and CME honoraria from Medscape, OncLive, PeerVoice, Physicians Education Resources, Targeted Oncology, and Research to Practice. MDH receives research funding from Bristol Myers Squibb; is a paid consultant to Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Genentech/Roche, Nektar, Syndax, Mirati, Blueprint, Achilles Therapeutics, PACT Pharma, Immunai, and Shattuck Labs; receives travel support/honoraria from AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Merck, and BMS; and a patent has been filed by MSK related to the use of tumor mutation burden to predict response to immunotherapy (PCT/US2015/062208), which has received licensing fees from PGDx. EAC reports consultancy fees from Pfizer, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, COTA, Genentech-Roche, and Heron Therapeutics. DYML has been a consultant for Genentech and Novartis. MEL has a consultant role with Johnson and Johnson, Novocure, QED, Bicara, Janssen, Novartis, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, EMD Serono, Astrazeneca, Innovaderm, Deciphera, DFB, Azitra, Kintara, RBC/La Roche Posay, Trifecta, Varsona, Genentech, Loxo, Seattle Genetics, Lutris, OnQuality, Azitra, Roche, NCODA, Apricity, Oncoderm Labs, Hoth Therapeutics. Dr. Lacouture also receives research funding from Lutris, Paxman, Novocure, J&J, US Biotest, OQL, Novartis and AZ. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 European Society for Medical Oncology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Epichaperome network maintenance is vital to survival of tumors that express it. PU-H71 is an epichaperome inhibitor that binds to the ATP-binding site of HSP90 and has demonstrated antitumor activity in breast cancer xenograft models and clinical safety in patients. PU-positron emission tomography (PET) is a theragnostic imaging tool that allows visualization of the epichaperome target. In this phase Ib trial, we present safety and tolerability for PU-H71 plus nab-paclitaxel in HER2-negative patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and the utility of PU-PET as a noninvasive predictive biomarker., Methods: We performed a 3 + 3 dose-escalation study with escalating PU-H71 doses and standard nab-paclitaxel. The primary objective was to establish safety and determine maximum tolerated dose (MTD)/recommended phase 2 dose. Secondary objectives were to assess pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy. Patients could enroll in a companion PU-PET protocol to measure epichaperome expression before treatment initiation to allow exploratory correlation with treatment benefit., Results: Of the 12 patients enrolled, dose-limiting toxicity occurred in one patient (G3 neutropenic fever) at dose level 1; MTD of PU-H71 was 300 mg/m 2 plus nab-paclitaxel 260 mg/m 2 administered every 3 weeks. Common toxicities included diarrhea, fatigue, peripheral neuropathy, and nausea. PU-H71 systemic exposure was not altered by nab-paclitaxel administration. Two of 12 patients had partial response (overall response rate, 17%) and the clinical benefit rate was 42% (5 of 12). Time to progression was associated with baseline epichaperome positivity and PU-H71 peak standard uptake value (SUV), with more durable disease control observed with high epichaperome levels., Conclusion: The combination of PU-H71 and nab-paclitaxel was well tolerated, with evidence of clinical activity. More durable disease control without progression was observed in patients with high baseline epichaperome expression. A phase II trial of this combination with PU-PET as a companion diagnostic for patient selection is currently planned., Competing Interests: The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated unless otherwise noted. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/po/author-center. Open Payments is a public database containing information reported by companies about payments made to US-licensed physicians (Open Payments). Komal L. JhaveriConsulting or Advisory Role: Novartis, Pfizer, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Jounce Therapeutics, ADC Therapeutics, Synthon, Intellisphere, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, AbbVie, Eli Lilly Research Funding: Novartis (Inst), Genentech (Inst), Debio Pharmaceuticals (Inst), ADC Therapeutics (Inst), Pfizer (Inst), Novita Pharmaceuticals (Inst), Clovis Oncology (Inst), Eli Lilly (Inst), Zymeworks (Inst), Immunomedics (Inst), Puma Biotechnology (Inst) Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Taiho Pharmaceutical, Jounce Therapeutics, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, IntellisphereCarlos H. dos AnjosConsulting or Advisory Role: MSD OncologyTony TaldoneConsulting or Advisory Role: Samus Therapeutics Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: I am an inventor on patents covering associated composition of matter.Elizabeth ComenEmployment: Survivornet Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Survivornet.com Honoraria: Navigant Consulting, Kantar Health, Grey Global Group, ClearView Healthcare Partners, Decision Resources, Gerson Lehrman Group, Pfizer Consulting or Advisory Role: Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Genentech, HERON, Novartis Research Funding: Roche Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Pfizer, NovartisMonica FornierHonoraria: Eisai, Roche/Genentech Consulting or Advisory Role: Eisai Research Funding: Roche/GenentechNagavarakishore PillarsettyStock and Other Ownership Interests: Amedisys, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Teva, Verastem, Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Merrimack, Celldex, ZIOPHARM Oncology, Immunogen, Bayer, OncoMed, Lexicon, ION Pharma, Viking Therapeutics Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: N. Pillarsetty is coinventor on intellectual property on Hsp90/epichaperome targeting agents that were developed at MSKCC and is currently licensed to Samus Therapeutics. N. Pillarsetty has received financial royalties for his IP contributions that are licensed to Samus Therapeutics.Sue DugganEmployment: Samus TherapeuticsGabriela ChiosisStock and Other Ownership Interests: Samus Therapeutics Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: Samus Therapeutics; hold patents, have patents pending, receive royaltiesMark P. DunphyPatents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center holds the intellectual rights to PU-H71 and [124I]-PU-H71 (PCT/US06/03676, PCT/US2012/045861), which have been licensed to Samus Therapeutics. Dr. Dunphy has contributed to the patents and has received financial royalties for his IP contributions.Shanu ModiHonoraria: Novartis Consulting or Advisory Role: Daiichi Sankyo, Macrogenics, AstraZeneca Speakers' Bureau: Genentech, Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca, Seattle Genetics Research Funding: Roche/Genentech, Novartis, Seattle Genetics, Synta, Daiichi Sankyo Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Genentech, Daiichi Sankyo No other potential conflicts of interest were reported., (© 2020 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Purpose: Tumor-associated macrophages correlate with increased invasiveness, growth, and immunosuppression. Activation of the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R) results in proliferation, differentiation, and migration of monocytes/macrophages. This phase I study evaluated the immunologic and clinical activity, and safety profile of CSF-1R inhibition with the mAb LY3022855., Patients and Methods: Patients with advanced refractory metastatic breast cancer (MBC) or metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) were treated with LY3022855 intravenously in 6-week cycles in cohorts: (A) 1.25 mg/kg every 2 weeks (Q2W); (B) 1.0 mg/kg on weeks 1, 2, 4, and 5; (C) 100 mg once weekly; (D)100 mg Q2W. mCRPC patients were enrolled in cohorts A and B; patients with MBC were enrolled in all cohorts. Efficacy was assessed by RECIST and Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 2 criteria., Results: Thirty-four patients (22 MBC; 12 mCRPC) received ≥1 dose of LY3022855. At day 8, circulating CSF-1 levels increased and proinflammatory monocytes CD14 DIM CD16 BRIGHT decreased. Best RECIST response was stable disease in five patients with MBC (23%; duration, 82-302 days) and three patients with mCRPC (25%; duration, 50-124 days). Two patients with MBC (cohort A) had durable stable disease >9 months and a third patient with MBC had palpable reduction in a nontarget neck mass. Immune-related gene activation in tumor biopsies posttreatment was observed. Common any grade treatment-related adverse events were fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, asymptomatic increased lipase, and creatine phosphokinase., Conclusions: LY3022855 was well tolerated and showed evidence of immune modulation. Clinically meaningful stable disease >9 months was observed in two patients with MBC., (©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Alpelisib is a selective inhibitor of PI3Kα, shown to improve outcomes for PIK3CA mutant, hormone receptor positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancers (MBC) when combined with antiestrogen therapy. To uncover mechanisms of resistance, we conducted a detailed, longitudinal analysis of tumor and plasma circulating tumor DNA among such patients from a phase I/II trial combining alpelisib with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) (NCT01870505). The trial's primary objective was to establish safety with maculopapular rash emerging as the most common grade 3 adverse event (33%). Among 44 evaluable patients, the observed clinical benefit rate was 52%. Correlating genetic alterations with outcome, we identified loss-of-function PTEN mutations in 25% of patients with resistance. ESR1 activating mutations also expanded in number and allele fraction during treatment and were associated with resistance. These data indicate that genomic alterations that mediate resistance to alpelisib or antiestrogen may promote disease progression and highlight PTEN loss as a recurrent mechanism of resistance to PI3Kα inhibition., Competing Interests: Competing Interests P.R. reports consulting or advisory role for Novartis, AstraZeneca, Foundation Medicine, and institutional research support from Illumina and GRAIL; M.N.D. is an employee of Eli Lilly, P.D.S. reports consulting with Tmnity and research funding from AstraZeneca; B.T.L. reports consulting/advisory board for Genentech, ThermoFisher Scientific, Guardant Health, Hengrui Therapeutics, Mersana Therapeutics, Biosceptre Australia and institutional research support from Illumina, GRAIL, Genentech, AstraZeneca; N.V. reports consulting or advisory role for Novartis; K.J. reports consulting or advisory role for ADC Therapeutics; AstraZeneca; Jounce therapeutics; Novartis; Pfizer; Spectrum; Taiho, research funding from ADC Therapeutics (Inst); Clovis Oncology (Inst); Debio (Inst); Genentech (Inst); Novartis (Inst); Novita (Inst); Pfizer (Inst) and other relationship with Jounce Therapeutics; Novartis; Pfizer; Taiho; A.C. reports being an advisory board member for Accurate Medical a Stockholder for Amgen; L.N. reports honoraria from Advanced Breast Cancer 4 International Consensus Conference; Bluprint Oncology Concepts; Celgene; Context Therapeutics; MCI Breast Cancer Symposium, consulting or advisory role for Advanced Breast Cancer International Consensus Conference; Bluprint Oncology Concepts; Celgene; Context Therapeutics; MCI Breast Cancer Symposium and travel, accommodations, expenses from Advanced Breast Cancer International Consensus Conference; Celgene; MCI Breast Cancer Symposium; A.S., R.J.N., J.I.O., and R.B.L. are employees and stockholders of Guardant Health; M.E.R. reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, consulting or advisory role for AstraZeneca; McKesson; Merck; Pfizer, research funding from Abbvie (Inst); AstraZeneca (Inst); InVitae (Inst); Medivation (Inst); Myriad Genetics (Inst); Tesaro (Inst), and travel, accommodations, expenses from AstraZeneca; M.E.L. reports serving as a consultant or speaking for Legacy Healthcare Services, Adgero Bio, Amryt, Celldex, Debiopharm, Galderma, Johnson & Johnson, Novocure, Lindi, Merck, Sharp and Dohme Corp, Helsinn Healthcare SA, Janssen Research & Development LLC, Menlo Therapeutics, Novartis, Roche, AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Allergan, Amgen, E. R. Squibb & Sons, LLC, EMD Serono, AstraZeneca, Genentech, Leo Pharma, Seattle Genetics, Bayer, Manner, SAS, Lutris, Pierre Fabre, Paxman Coolers, Adjucare, Dignitana, Biotechspert, Teva Mexico, Parexel, OnQuality, Novartis, Our Brain Bank, and Takeda Millenium; and receiving research funding from Veloce, US Biotest, Berg, BMS, Lutris, Paxman, and Novocure; J.S.R-F reports personal/consultancy fees from VolitionRx, Page.AI, Goldman Sachs, Grail, Ventana Medical Systems, Roche, Genentech and Invicro; D.B.S. received honoraria and consulted for Pfizer, Loxo, Vivideon, Illumina and Lilly Oncology; M.S. is in the Advisory Board of Bioscience Institute and Menarini Ricerche, received research funds from Puma Biotechnology, Daiichi Sankyo, Targimmune, Immunomedics and Menarini Ricerche, is a co-founder of Medendi Medical Travel and received honoraria from Menarini Ricerche and ADC; S.C. reports institutional research funding from Novartis, Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech and Ad hoc consulting for Novartis, Context Therapeutics, Sermonix, Eli Lilly, BMS, and Revolution Medicine. The other coauthors report no competing interests.

We have previously shown a novel antimetastatic role for neutrophils in the premetastatic lung of mice in models of breast cancer. Here we expand on those findings in the context of human breast cancer. We assessed the cytotoxicity of neutrophils from 90 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, 24 ductal carcinoma in situ patients, 56 metastatic breast cancer patients, and 64 women with no history of cancer. We report that neutrophils from metastatic and newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are significantly more cytotoxic than neutrophils from cancer-free individuals. We hypothesized that tumor-secreted factors 'prime' neutrophils to become cytotoxic. To identify these factors we assayed for cytokines in serum from 54 breast cancer patients and 35 cancer-free controls. Tumor necrosis factor (TNFα), MCP-1 (CCL2), and IL1RA significantly correlated with cytotoxicity and directly stimulated neutrophil cytotoxicity ex vivo . RNA-seq analyses found protein kinase C iota ( PRKCI) to be over expressed in patient neutrophils relative to neutrophils from cancer-free individuals. PRKCI has been implicated in NADPH oxidase assembly, required for neutrophil-mediated cell cytotoxicity. Treatment of human neutrophils with TNF-induced PRKCI expression and cytotoxicity in samples that had low basal levels of PRKCI expression. To date, this work is the first to demonstrate the cytotoxic role of neutrophils in the peripheral blood of a large cohort of breast cancer patients, and that select cytokines appear to mediate the stimulation of neutrophil cytotoxicity. Further functional studies are necessary to identify clinically relevant means of stimulating neutrophil cytotoxicity as an effective barrier against disease progression and metastasis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background: Cancer cell migration patterns are critical for understanding metastases and clinical evolution. Breast cancer spreads from one organ system to another via hematogenous and lymphatic routes. Although patterns of spread may superficially seem random and unpredictable, we explored the possibility that this is not the case., Aims: Develop a Markov based model of breast cancer progression that has predictive capability., Methods: On the basis of a longitudinal data set of 446 breast cancer patients, we created a Markov chain model of metastasis that describes the probabilities of metastasis occurring at a given anatomic site together with the probability of spread to additional sites. Progression is modeled as a random walk on a directed graph, where nodes represent anatomical sites where tumors can develop., Results: We quantify how survival depends on the location of the first metastatic site for different patient subcategories. In addition, we classify metastatic sites as "sponges" or "spreaders" with implications regarding anatomical pathway prediction and long-term survival. As metastatic tumors to the bone (main spreader) are most prominent, we focus in more detail on differences between groups of patients who form subsequent metastases to the lung as compared with the liver., Conclusions: We have found that spatiotemporal patterns of metastatic spread in breast cancer are neither random nor unpredictable. Furthermore, the novel concept of classifying organ sites as sponges or spreaders may motivate experiments seeking a biological basis for these phenomena and allow us to quantify the potential consequences of therapeutic targeting of sites in the oligometastatic setting and shed light on organotropic aspects of the disease., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background: Malignant transformation requires the interaction of cancer cells with their microenvironment, including infiltrating leukocytes. However, somatic mutational studies have focused on alterations in cancer cells, assuming that the microenvironment is genetically normal. Because we hypothesized that this might not be a valid assumption, we performed exome sequencing and targeted sequencing to investigate for the presence of pathogenic mutations in tumor-associated leukocytes in breast cancers., Methods: We used targeted sequencing and exome sequencing to evaluate the presence of mutations in sorted tumor-infiltrating CD45-positive cells from primary untreated breast cancers. We used high-depth sequencing to determine the presence/absence of the mutations we identified in breast cancer-infiltrating leukocytes in purified tumor cells and in circulating blood cells., Results: Capture-based sequencing of 15 paired tumor-infiltrating leukocytes and matched germline DNA identified variants in known cancer genes in all 15 primary breast cancer patients in our cohort. We validated the presence of mutations identified by targeted sequencing in infiltrating leukocytes through orthogonal exome sequencing. Ten patients harbored alterations previously reported as somatically acquired variants, including in known leukemia genes ( DNTM3A , TET2 , and BCOR) . One of the mutations observed in the tumor-infiltrating leukocytes was also detected in the circulating leukocytes of the same patients at a lower allele frequency than observed in the tumor-infiltrating cells., Conclusions: Here we show that somatic mutations, including mutations in known cancer genes, are present in the leukocytes infiltrating a subset of primary breast cancers. This observation allows for the possibility that the cancer cells interact with mutant infiltrating leukocytes, which has many potential clinical implications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

In breast cancer, mortality is driven by the metastatic process, whereby some cancer cells leave their primary site of origin and travel to distant vital organs. Despite improved screening and therapies to treat breast cancers, metastasis continues to undermine these advances. The pervasive albatross of metastasis necessitates improved prevention and treatment of metastasis. To this end, clinicians routinely employ post-operative or adjuvant therapy to decrease the risk of future metastasis and improve the chance for cure. This article evaluates the limitations of breast cancer therapies within the context of growth curves, and in doing so, provides new insight into the metastatic process as well as more effective means for therapeutic delivery. Two critical developments evolve from this mathematical analysis: first, the use of dose dense chemotherapy to improve survival among breast cancer patients; and second, the theory of self-seeding, which fundamentally changes our understanding of metastasis and the trajectory of drug development.

Despite significant progress in our understanding and treatment of metastatic cancer, nearly all metastatic cancers are incurable. In this Review, we use breast cancer as a model to highlight the limitations and inconsistencies of our existing treatment paradigms for metastatic disease. In turn, we offer a new theory of metastasis, termed "self-seeding. " The self-seeding paradigm, well validated in mathematical, experimental and animal models, challenges the notion that cancers cells that leave a primary tumor cell, unidirectionally seed metastases in regional lymph nodes and/or distant sites. In contrast, there is mounting evidence that circulating tumor cells can move multi-directionally, seeding not only distant sites but also their tumors of origin. Here, we show that the self-seeding model may answer many of the quandaries intrinsic to understanding how cancer spreads and ultimately kills. Indeed, redirecting our research and treatment efforts within the self-seeding model may offer new possibilities for eradicating metastatic cancer.

Most metastatic cancers are incurable--a fact that underscores the limitations of our existing paradigms for understanding metastasis. In this Review, we use breast cancer to explore many of the enigmas revealed by these existing paradigms. Traditionally, metastatic models describe metastasis as a unidirectional process, whereby cancer cells leave a primary tumor and unidirectionally seed metastasis in regional lymph nodes or distant sites. By contrast, recent data indicate that metastasis is a multidirectional process whereby cancer cells can seed distant sites as well as the primary tumor itself. This later process, known as 'self-seeding,' has been validated in diverse experimental models. Here, we show that the self-seeding model may answer many of the mysteries inherent to cancer metastasis. Indeed, reframing our understanding of metastasis within the self-seeding model offers new opportunities for prevention and cure of metastatic cancer.

Post-transcriptional regulators have emerged as robust effectors of metastasis and display deregulated expression through unknown mechanisms. Here, we reveal that the human microRNA-335 locus undergoes genetic deletion and epigenetic promoter hypermethylation in every metastatic derivative obtained from independent patients' malignant cell populations. Genetic deletion of miR-335 is a common event in human breast cancer, is enriched for in breast cancer metastases, and also correlates with ovarian cancer recurrence. We furthermore identify miR-335 as a robust inhibitor of tumor reinitiation. We thus implicate the miR-335 locus on 7q32.2 as the first selective metastasis suppressor and tumor initiation suppressor locus in human breast cancer.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether docosahexaenoic acid increased surfactant production, as reflected by increased dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, in mouse fetal lung and amniotic fluid., Study Design: On day 9.5 of gestation, pregnant mice were given docosahexaenoic acid orally at 0, 5, 10, or 20 mg per day and were killed at day 16.5 (preterm) and day 19.5 (term) of gestation. Dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine was measured in fetal lung homogenates and amniotic fluid by high-performance thin-layer chromatography., Results: Dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine values in lung were 0.22 +/- 0.27 microg/mg of total protein in preterm versus 1.96 +/- 0.57 microg/mg in term control fetuses. Pretreatment with 5, 10, or 20 mg docosahexaenoic acid increased dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine levels in preterm fetuses to 1.20 +/- 0.75, 1.60 +/- 0.67, and 3.28 +/- 0.44 microg/mg of protein, respectively. A similar trend was observed in amniotic fluid in which dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine levels were 1.86 +/- 3.70 microg/mL in preterm fetuses at baseline and increased to 7.81 +/- 1.21, 16.83 +/- 1.62 and 22.72 +/- 3.44 microg/mL after pretreatment for 7 days with 5, 10, and 20 mg docosahexaenoic acid (P<.05 compared to untreated mice). Dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine levels in amniotic fluid were 24.46 +/- 10.3 microg/mL in term control mice., Conclusion: The oral administration of docosahexaenoic acid to pregnant mice during pregnancy can induce dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine production and secretion, which is the major lipid component of surfactant.