Blood biomarkers for neuroaxonal injury and astrocytic activation in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a troublesome side effect in patients exposed to taxanes in the treatment of cancer and may affect quality of life dramatically. Here we assessed whether serum levels of neurofilament light (NfL) and tau (two neuroaxonal injury biomarkers) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, a biomarker for astrocytic activation) correlate with the development of CIPN in the adjuvant setting of early breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using ultrasensitive single molecule array technology, serum levels of NfL, GFAP, and tau were measured before and every 3 weeks in 10 women receiving adjuvant EC (epirubicin 90 mg/m² and cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m²) every 3 weeks × 3, followed by weekly paclitaxel 80 mg/m² × 9-12 weeks after surgery due to early breast cancer. CIPN was graded according to the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v5.0) and the questionnaire EORTC QLQ CIPN-20. RESULTS: Serum levels of GFAP increased successively during cycles of EC. NfL increased instead in response to the treatment of paclitaxel. NfL and GFAP continued to rise throughout exposure of cumulatively higher doses of paclitaxel and were reduced 3 months after the end of chemotherapy. Serums levels of tau were marginally affected by exposure to chemotherapy. Women with worse symptoms of CIPN had higher concentrations of NfL than women with mild symptoms of CIPN. INTERPRETATION: NfL and GFAP are promising biomarkers to identify women at risk of developing CIPN. Larger prospective studies are now needed.

Large-scale genome-wide association study of 398,238 women unveils seven novel loci associated with high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer risk.

Background: Nineteen genomic regions have been associated with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). We used data from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC), Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/BRCA2 (CIMBA), UK Biobank (UKBB), and FinnGen to identify novel HGSOC susceptibility loci and develop polygenic scores (PGS). Methods: We analyzed >22 million variants for 398,238 women. Associations were assessed separately by consortium and meta-analysed. OCAC and CIMBA data were used to develop PGS which were trained on FinnGen data and validated in UKBB and BioBank Japan. Results: Eight novel variants were associated with HGSOC risk. An interesting discovery biologically was finding that TP53 3'-UTR SNP rs78378222 was associated with HGSOC (per T allele relative risk (RR)=1.44, 95%CI:1.28-1.62, P=1.76×10-9). The optimal PGS included 64,518 variants and was associated with an odds ratio of 1.46 (95%CI:1.37-1.54) per standard deviation in the UKBB validation (AUROC curve=0.61, 95%CI:0.59-0.62). Conclusions: This study represents the largest GWAS for HGSOC to date. The results highlight that improvements in imputation reference panels and increased sample sizes can identify HGSOC associated variants that previously went undetected, resulting in improved PGS. The use of updated PGS in cancer risk prediction algorithms will then improve personalized risk prediction for HGSOC.

The role of serum thymidine kinase 1 activity in neoadjuvant-treated HER2-positive breast cancer: biomarker analysis from the Swedish phase II randomized PREDIX HER2 trial.

BACKGROUND: Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) plays a pivotal role in DNA synthesis and cellular proliferation. TK1 has been studied as a prognostic marker and as an early indicator of treatment response in human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative early and metastatic breast cancer (BC). However, the prognostic and predictive value of serial TK1 activity in HER2-positive BC remains unknown. METHODS: In the PREDIX HER2 trial, 197 HER2-positive BC patients were randomized to neoadjuvant trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and docetaxel (DPH) or trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), followed by surgery and adjuvant epirubicin and cyclophosphamide. Serum samples were prospectively collected from all participants at multiple timepoints: at baseline, after cycle 1, 2, 4, and 6, at end of adjuvant therapy, annually for a total period of 5 years and/or at the time of recurrence. The associations of sTK1 activity with baseline characteristics, pathologic complete response (pCR), event-free survival (EFS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were evaluated. RESULTS: No association was detected between baseline sTK1 levels and all the baseline clinicopathologic characteristics. An increase of TK1 activity from baseline to cycle 2 was seen in all cases. sTK1 level at baseline, after 2 and 4 cycles was not associated with pCR status. After a median follow-up of 58 months, 23 patients had EFS events. There was no significant effect between baseline or cycle 2 sTK1 activity and time to event. A non-significant trend was noted among patents with residual disease (non-pCR) and high sTK1 activity at the end of treatment visit, indicating a potentially worse long-term prognosis. CONCLUSION: sTK1 activity increased following neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive BC but was not associated with patient outcomes or treatment benefit. However, the post-surgery prognostic value in patients that have not attained pCR warrants further investigation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02568839. Registered on 6 October 2015.

Extended genetic analysis and tumor characteristics in over 4600 women with suspected hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: Genetic screening for pathogenic variants (PVs) in cancer predisposition genes can affect treatment strategies, risk prediction and preventive measures for patients and families. For decades, hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) has been attributed to PVs in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, and more recently other rare alleles have been firmly established as associated with a high or moderate increased risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. Here, we assess the genetic variation and tumor characteristics in a large cohort of women with suspected HBOC in a clinical oncogenetic setting. METHODS: Women with suspected HBOC referred from all oncogenetic clinics in Sweden over a six-year inclusion period were screened for PVs in 13 clinically relevant genes. The genetic outcome was compared with tumor characteristics and other clinical data collected from national cancer registries and hospital records. RESULTS: In 4622 women with breast and/or ovarian cancer the overall diagnostic yield (the proportion of women carrying at least one PV) was 16.6%. BRCA1/2 PVs were found in 8.9% of women (BRCA1 5.95% and BRCA2 2.94%) and PVs in the other breast and ovarian cancer predisposition genes in 8.2%: ATM (1.58%), BARD1 (0.45%), BRIP1 (0.43%), CDH1 (0.11%), CHEK2 (3.46%), PALB2 (0.84%), PTEN (0.02%), RAD51C (0.54%), RAD51D (0.15%), STK11 (0) and TP53 (0.56%). Thus, inclusion of the 11 genes in addition to BRCA1/2 increased diagnostic yield by 7.7%. The yield was, as expected, significantly higher in certain subgroups such as younger patients, medullary breast cancer, higher Nottingham Histologic Grade, ER-negative breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer and high grade serous ovarian cancer. Age and tumor subtype distributions differed substantially depending on genetic finding. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to understanding the clinical and genetic landscape of breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility. Extending clinical genetic screening from BRCA1 and BRCA2 to 13 established cancer predisposition genes almost doubles the diagnostic yield, which has implications for genetic counseling and clinical guidelines. The very low yield in the syndrome genes CDH1, PTEN and STK11 questions the usefulness of including these genes on routine gene panels.

Survivin promotes a glycolytic switch in CD4+ T cells by suppressing the transcription of PFKFB3 in rheumatoid arthritis.

In this study, we explore the role of nuclear survivin in maintaining the effector phenotype of IFNγ-producing T cells acting through the transcriptional control of glucose utilization. High expression of survivin in CD4+T cells was associated with IFNγ-dependent phenotype and anaerobic glycolysis. Transcriptome of CD4+ cells and sequencing of survivin-bound chromatin showed that nuclear survivin had a genome-wide and motif-specific binding to regulatory regions of the genes controlling cell metabolism. Survivin coprecipitates with transcription factors IRF1 and SMAD3, which repressed the transcription of the metabolic check-point enzyme phosphofructokinase 2 gene PFKFB3 and promoted anaerobic glycolysis. Combining transcriptome analyses of CD4+ cells and functional studies in glucose metabolism, we demonstrated that the inhibition of survivin reverted PFKFB3 production, inhibited glucose uptake, and reduces interferon effects in CD4+ cells. These results present a survivin-dependent mechanism in coordinating the metabolic adaptation of CD4+T cells and propose an attractive strategy to counteract IFNγ-dependent inflammation in autoimmunity.

Pan-cancer analysis identifies BIRC5 as a prognostic biomarker.

BACKGROUND: The BIRC5 gene encodes for the Survivin protein, which is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis family. Survivin is found in humans during fetal development, but generally not in adult cells thereafter. Previous studies have shown that Survivin is abundant in most cancer cells, thereby making it a promising target for anti-cancer drugs and a potential prognostic tool. METHODS: To assess genetic alterations and mutations in the BIRC5 gene as well as BIRC5 co-expression with other genes, genomic and transcriptomic data were downloaded via cBioPortal for approximately 9000 samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) representing 33 different cancer types and 11 pan-cancer organ systems, and validated using the ICGC Data Portal and COSMIC. TCGA BIRC5 RNA sequencing data from 33 different cancer types and matching normal tissue samples for 16 cancer types were downloaded from Broad GDAC Firehose and validated using breast cancer microarray data from our previous work and data sets from the GENT2 web-based tool. Survival data were analyzed with multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis and validated using KM plotter for breast-, ovarian-, lung- and gastric cancer. RESULTS: Although genetic alterations in BIRC5 were not common in cancer, BIRC5 expression was significantly higher in cancer tissue compared to normal tissue in the 16 different cancer types. For 14/33 cancer types, higher BIRC5 expression was linked to worse overall survival (OS, 4/14 after adjusting for both age and tumor grade and 10/14 after adjusting only for age). Interestingly, higher BIRC5 expression was associated with better OS in lung squamous cell carcinoma and ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. Higher BIRC5 expression was also linked to shorter progressive-free interval (PFI) for 14/33 cancer types (4/14 after adjusting for both age and tumor grade and 10/14 after adjusting only for age). External validation showed that high BIRC5 expression was significantly associated with worse OS for breast-, lung-, and gastric cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that BIRC5 overexpression is associated with the initiation and progression of several cancer types, and thereby a promising prognostic biomarker.

A search for modifying genetic factors in CHEK2:c.1100delC breast cancer patients.

The risk of breast cancer associated with CHEK2:c.1100delC is 2-threefold but higher in carriers with a family history of breast cancer than without, suggesting that other genetic loci in combination with CHEK2:c.1100delC confer an increased risk in a polygenic model. Part of the excess familial risk has been associated with common low-penetrance variants. This study aimed to identify genetic loci that modify CHEK2:c.1100delC-associated breast cancer risk by searching for candidate risk alleles that are overrepresented in CHEK2:c.1100delC carriers with breast cancer compared with controls. We performed whole-exome sequencing in 28 breast cancer cases with germline CHEK2:c.1100delC, 28 familial breast cancer cases and 70 controls. Candidate alleles were selected for validation in larger cohorts. One recessive synonymous variant, rs16897117, was suggested, but no overrepresentation of homozygous CHEK2:c.1100delC carriers was found in the following validation. Furthermore, 11 non-synonymous candidate alleles were suggested for further testing, but no significant difference in allele frequency could be detected in the validation in CHEK2:c.1100delC cases compared with familial breast cancer, sporadic breast cancer and controls. With this method, we found no support for a CHEK2:c.1100delC-specific genetic modifier. Further studies of CHEK2:c.1100delC genetic modifiers are warranted to improve risk assessment in clinical practice.

Neoadjuvant Trastuzumab, Pertuzumab, and Docetaxel vs Trastuzumab Emtansine in Patients With ERBB2-Positive Breast Cancer: A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is presently approved for treatment of advanced breast cancer and after incomplete response to neoadjuvant therapy, but the potential of T-DM1 as monotherapy is so far unknown. Objective: To assess pathologic complete response (pCR) to standard neoadjuvant therapy of combination docetaxel, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab (DTP) vs T-DM1 monotherapy in patients with ERBB2 (formerly HER2)-positive breast cancer. Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized phase 2 trial, conducted at 9 sites in Sweden, enrolled 202 patients between December 1, 2014, and October 31, 2018. Participants were 18 years or older, with ERBB2-positive tumors larger than 20 mm and/or verified lymph node metastases. Analysis was performed on an intention-to-treat basis. Interventions: Patients were randomized to receive 6 cycles of DTP (standard group) or T-DM1 (investigational group). Crossover was recommended at lack of response or occurrence of intolerable toxic effects. Assessment with fluorine 18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (PET-CT) was performed at baseline and after 2 and 6 treatment cycles. Main Outcome and Measures: Pathologic complete response, defined as ypT0 or Tis ypN0. Secondary end points were clinical and radiologic objective response; event-free survival, invasive disease-free survival, distant disease-free survival, and overall survival; safety; health-related quality of life (HRQoL); functional and biological tumor characteristics; and frequency of breast-conserving surgery. Results: Overall, 202 patients were randomized; 197 (99 women in the standard group [median age, 51 years (range, 26-73 years)] and 98 women in the investigational group [median age, 53 years (range, 28-74 years)]) were evaluable for the primary end point. Pathologic complete response was achieved in 45 patients in the standard group (45.5%; 95% CI 35.4%-55.8%) and 43 patients in the investigational group (43.9%; 95% CI 33.9%-54.3%). The difference was not statistically significant (P = .82). In a subgroup analysis, the pCR rate was higher in hormone receptor-negative tumors than in hormone receptor-positive tumors in both treatment groups (45 of 72 [62.5%] vs 45 of 125 [36.0%]). Three patients in the T-DM1 group experienced progression during therapy. In an exploratory analysis, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes at 10% or more (median) estimated pCR significantly (odds ratio, 2.76; 95% CI, 1.42-5.36; P = .003). Response evaluation with 18F-FDG PET-CT revealed a relative decrease of maximum standardized uptake value by equal to or greater than 68.7% (median) was associated with pCR (odds ratio, 6.74, 95% CI, 2.75-16.51; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, treatment with standard neoadjuvant combination DTP was equal to T-DM1. Trial Registrations: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02568839; EudraCT number: 2014-000808-10.

Prognostic Significance of BIRC5/Survivin in Breast Cancer: Results from Three Independent Cohorts.

Breast cancer (BC) histological and molecular classifications significantly improved the treatment strategy and prognosis. Inhibitor of apoptosis BIRC5/survivin is often overexpressed in cancers, however, indications of its importance in BC are inconsistent. We integrate BIRC5 protein and mRNA measures with clinical associates and long-term outcome in three independent cohorts Protein levels of BIRC5 were measured in primary lysates of 845 patients of the West Swedish BC cohort (VGR-BC) and linked to 5- and 27-years survival. The results were externally validated in transcriptomic data from METABRIC and SCAN-B cohorts. Survival analysis showed that high levels of BIRC5 were consistently associated with a poor probability of 5-year overall survival. High BIRC5 in VGR-BC contributed negatively to the disease-specific survival at 5 and 27 years. Subsets with different status by ER (estrogen receptor) expression and presence of nodal metastasis supported independent association of high BIRC5 with poor prognosis in all cohorts. In METABRIC and SCAN-B cohorts, high levels of BIRC5 mRNA were associated with the basal-like and luminal B molecular BC subtypes and with increasing histologic grade. BIRC5 is a sensitive survival marker that acts independent of ER and nodal status, and its levels need to be considered when making treatment decisions.

Genetic alterations associated with multiple primary malignancies.

Breast cancer (BC) patients are frequently at risk of developing other malignancies following treatment. Although studies have been conducted to elucidate the etiology of multiple primary malignancies (MPM) after a BC diagnosis, few studies have investigated other previously diagnosed primary malignancies (OPPM) before BC. Here, genome-wide profiling was used to identify potential driver DNA copy number alterations and somatic mutations that promote the development of MPMs. To compare the genomic profiles for two primary tumors (BC and OPPM) from the same patient, tumor pairs from 26 young women (≤50 years) diagnosed with one or more primary malignancies before breast cancer were analyzed. Malignant melanoma was the most frequent OPPM, followed by gynecologic- and hematologic malignancies. However, significantly more genetic alterations were detected in BC compared to the OPPM. BC also showed more genetic similarity as a group than the tumor pairs. Clonality testing showed that genetic alterations on chromosomes 1, 3, 16, and 19 were concordant in both tumors in 13 patients. TP53 mutations were also found to be prevalent in BC, MM, and HM. Although all samples were classified as genetically unstable, chromothripsis-like patterns were primarily observed in BC. Taken together, few recurrent genetic alterations were identified in both tumor pairs that can explain the development of MPMs in the same patient. However, larger studies are warranted to further investigate key driver mutations associated with MPMs.

Long-Term Prognostication for 20 114 Women With Small and Node-Negative Breast Cancer (T1abN0).

Background: Although small, node-negative breast cancer (ie, T1abN0) constitutes 20% of all newly diagnosed breast cancers, data on prognosis and prognostic factors are limited. Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study including 20 114 Swedish women treated for T1abN0 breast cancer from 1977 onward. Patient and tumor data were collected from Swedish breast cancer registries. Cohort subjects were followed through linkage to the Cause of Death Register. We calculated the cumulative incidence of breast cancer-specific and overall death and used Cox regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: During a median follow-up of 9.1 years (range = 0-38), 915 women died of breast cancer and 5416 of any cause. The 10-, 20-, and 30-year cumulative incidences of breast cancer death were 3.4% (95% CI = 3.1% to 3.7%), 7.6% (95% CI = 7.1% to 8.2%), and 10.5% (95% CI = 9.6% to 11.4%), respectively. The multivariable hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of breast cancer death were 0.92 (95% CI = 0.88 to 0.97) for each additional calendar year of diagnosis, 4.38 (95% CI = 2.79 to 6.87) for grade 3 vs grade 1 tumors, 0.43 (95% CI = 0.31 to 0.62) for progesterone receptor-positive vs progesterone receptor-negative disease, and 2.01 (95% CI = 0.99 to 4.07) for HER2-positive vs HER2-negative disease. Women with grade 3 vs grade 1 tumors had a 56% increased risk of death from any cause (HR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.30 to 1.88). Conclusions: The risk of breast cancer death in T1abN0 disease continues to increase steadily beyond 10 years after diagnosis, has improved over time, and varies substantially by tumor characteristics.

Previously diagnosed multiple primary malignancies in patients with breast carcinoma in Western Sweden between 2007 and 2018.

PURPOSE: Multiple primary malignancies (MPMs) caused by breast cancer treatment are well described, but only few studies to date describe which other previous primary malignancies (OPPMs) occur before breast cancer. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of OPPMs in patients with breast cancer between 2007 and 2018 in Western Sweden. METHODS: Patient selection was performed using both pathology reports at Sahlgrenska University Hospital (Sweden) and the Swedish Cancer Registry. All newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were screened for presence of OPPM. RESULTS: In total, 8031 breast cancer patients were diagnosed at Sahlgrenska University Hospital between 2007 and 2018. The prevalence of breast cancer patients with OPPMs (n = 414) increased from on average 2.6% to 8.2% during this 12-year period and ranged from 17 to 59 patients annually. The most striking increase in prevalence was found among the gynecological tumors (endometrium and ovarian adenocarcinomas), malignant melanomas and gastrointestinal malignancies. These findings were validated using data of the Swedish Cancer Registry. CONCLUSIONS: The overall survival rates for cancer patients have improved tremendously during the past 40 years, in part due to individually tailored therapies and screening programs. Our study revealed an increasing trend of OPPMs in breast cancer patients.

The prognostic relevance of FOXA1 and Nestin expression in breast cancer metastases: a retrospective study of 164 cases during a 10-year period (2004-2014).

BACKGROUND: Current prognostic markers cannot adequately predict the clinical outcome of breast cancer patients. Therefore, additional biomarkers need to be included in routine immune panels. FOXA1 was a significant predictor of favorable outcome in primary breast cancer, while Nestin expression is preferentially found in triple-negative tumors with increased rate of nodal metastases, and reduced survival. No studies have investigated the prognostic value of FOXA1 and Nestin expression in breast cancer metastases. METHODS: Breast cancer metastases (n = 164) from various anatomical sites were retrospectively analyzed by immunohistochemistry for FOXA1, Nestin and GATA3 expression. Cox regression analysis assessed the prognostic value of FOXA1 and Nestin expression. RESULTS: In breast cancer metastases, FOXA1 expression was associated with Nestin-negativity, GATA3-positivity, ER-positivity, HER2-positivity and non-triple-negative status (P < 0.05). In contrast, Nestin expression was associated with FOXA1-negative, GATA3-negative, ER-negative, and triple-negative metastases (P < 0.05). Univariate Cox regression analysis showed FOXA1 expression was predictive of overall survival (OS, P = 0.00048) and metastasis-free survival (DMFS, P = 0.0011), as well as, distant metastasis-free survival in ER-positive patients (P = 0.036) and overall survival in ER-negative patients (P = 0.024). Multivariate analysis confirmed the significance of FOXA1 for both survival endpoints in metastatic breast cancer patients (OS, P = 0.0033; DMFS, P = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, FOXA1 was expressed mostly in ER-positive breast cancer metastases. Expression of Nestin was related to triple-negative metastases, where brain was the most frequent metastatic site. These findings highlight the clinical utility of FOXA1 and Nestin expression and warrant their inclusion in routine immunohistochemical panels for breast carcinoma.

Breast cancer survival trends in different stages and age groups - a population-based study 1989-2013.

BACKGROUND: During the recent decades, breast cancer survival has gradually improved but there is limited knowledge on the improvement in population-based studies of patients diagnosed with different stages of the disease and in different age groups. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In two Swedish health care regions a total of 42,220 female breast cancer patients below 90 years of age were diagnosed between 1989 and 2013. They were treated and followed according to national and regional guidelines and formed a population-based cohort. RESULTS: Using patients diagnosed in 1989-1993 as a reference to the relative risk, 5-year mortality decreased with 49% for patients diagnosed at the end of the observation period (CI 95% 45-58). The mortality tended to decrease for patients with all stages of breast cancer and test for trend resulted in a statistically significant improvement over time in 5-year relative survival in stage III and IV and in 10-year survival in stage I and III. For each operable stage of disease, patients aged below 40 years or more than 70 years when diagnosed tended to have less favorable survival than patients diagnosed between 40-69 years of age. Test for trend resulted in statistically significant improvements over time for patients diagnosed at ages below 40, 40-54 and 54-69, but less marked improvements for patients older than 70 when diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: During the period 1989-2013 the relative risk of 5-year mortality decreased with 49%. Improvements were seen in all age groups but were unevenly distributed between stages and age groups pointing to the need for further improvements for younger and elderly patients.

Increased Overall Mortality Even after Risk Reducing Surgery for BRCA-Positive Women in Western Sweden.

Women with BRCA variants have a high lifetime risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the standard incidence ratios (SIR) for breast and ovarian cancer and standard mortality ratios (SMR) in a population-based cohort of women in Western Sweden, under surveillance and after risk reducing surgery. Women who tested positive for a BRCA variant between 1995-2016 (n = 489) were prospectively registered and followed up for cancer incidence, risk reducing surgery and mortality. The Swedish Cancer Register was used to compare breast and ovarian cancer incidence and mortality with and without risk reducing surgery for women with BRCA variants in comparison to women in the general population. SIR for breast cancer under surveillance until risk-reducing mastectomy (RRM) was 14.0 (95% CI 9.42-20.7) and decreased to 1.93 (95% CI 0.48-7.7) after RRM. The SIR for ovarian cancer was 124.6 (95% CI 59.4-261.3) under surveillance until risk reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) and decreased to 13.5 (95% CI 4.34-41.8) after RRSO. The SMR under surveillance before any risk reducing surgery was 5.56 (95% 2.09-14.8) and after both RRM and RRSO 4.32 (95% CI 1.62-11.5). Women with cancer diagnoses from the pathology report after risk reducing surgery were excluded from the analyses. Risk reducing surgery reduced the incidence of breast and ovarian cancer in women with BRCA variants. However, overall mortality was significantly increased in comparison to the women in the general population and remained elevated even after risk reducing surgery. These findings warrant further research regarding additional measures for these women.

Immune gene expression and response to chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Transcriptomic profiles have shown promise as predictors of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer (BC). This study aimed to explore their predictive value in the advanced BC (ABC) setting. METHODS: In a Phase 3 trial of first-line chemotherapy in ABC, a fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) was obtained at baseline. Intrinsic molecular subtypes and gene modules related to immune response, proliferation, oestrogen receptor (ER) signalling and recurring genetic alterations were analysed for association with objective response to chemotherapy. Gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of responders vs non-responders was performed independently. Lymphocytes were enumerated in FNAB smears and the absolute abundance of immune cell types was calculated using the Microenvironment Cell Populations counter method. RESULTS: Gene expression data were available for 109 patients. Objective response to chemotherapy was statistically significantly associated with an immune module score (odds ratio (OR)=1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-2.64; P=0.04). Subgroup analysis showed that this association was restricted to patients with ER-positive or luminal tumours (OR=3.54; 95%, 1.43-10.86; P=0.012 and P for interaction=0.04). Gene-set enrichment analysis confirmed that in these subgroups, immune-related gene sets were enriched in responders. CONCLUSIONS: Immune-related transcriptional signatures may predict response to chemotherapy in ER-positive and luminal ABC.

Metachronous and Synchronous Occurrence of 5 Primary Malignancies in a Female Patient between 1997 and 2013: A Case Report with Germline and Somatic Genetic Analysis.

The number of patients with multiple primary malignancies has been increasing steadily in recent years. In the present study, we describe a unique case of an 81-year-old woman with 5 metachronous and synchronous primary malignant neoplasms. The patient was first diagnosed with an endometrium adenocarcinoma in 1997 and a colon adenocarcinoma in 2002. Eleven years after her colon surgery, in 2013, the patient presented with 3 other primary malignancies within a 4-month time span: an invasive malignant melanoma on the lower leg, an invasive mucinous breast carcinoma in the right breast, and a pleomorphic spindle cell sarcoma on the left upper arm. Subsequent routine medical checkups in 2013-2017 revealed no metastases of the primary malignancies. The patient mentioned a familial aggregation of malignant tumors, including 2 sisters with breast cancer and a brother with lung cancer. Interestingly, next-generation sequencing analysis of the patient's blood sample detected no mutations in the BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, PTEN, CDH1, PALB2, RAD51C, RAD51D, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, EPCAM, APC, MUTYH, STK11, BMPR1A, SMAD4, PTEN, POLE, POLD1, GREM1, and GALNT12 genes. Therefore, whole genome sequencing is warranted to identify cancer-related genetic alterations in this patient with quintuple primary malignancies.

PAM50 Provides Prognostic Information When Applied to the Lymph Node Metastases of Advanced Breast Cancer Patients.

Purpose: Transcriptional pathway activity and the molecular subtypes of breast cancer metastases have been shown to significantly influence patient postrelapse survival. Here, we further determine the relevance of clinically employed gene signatures in the advanced breast cancer (ABC) setting.Experimental Design: Sufficient RNA for expression profiling was obtained from distant metastatic or inoperable loco-regional relapse tissue by fine-needle aspiration from 109 patients of the Swedish TEX clinical trial. Gene signatures (GGI, 70 gene, recurrence score, cell-cycle score, risk of recurrence score, and PAM50) were applied to all metastases, and their relationship to long- (5-year) and short-term (1.5-year) postrelapse survival at all and locoregional lymph nodes (n = 40) versus other metastatic sites (n = 69) combined was assessed using Kaplan-Meier and/or multivariate Cox regression analyses.Results: The majority of metastases were classified into intermediate or high-risk groups by all signatures, and a significant association was found between metastatic signature subgroups and primary tumor estrogen receptor status and histologic grade (P < 0.05). When considering all sites of metastasis, only PAM50 was statistically significant in Kaplan-Meier analysis (Log-rank P = 0.008 and 0.008 for long- and short-term postrelapse breast cancer-specific survival, respectively). This significance remained in both uni- and multivariate models when restricting analyses to lymph node metastases only, and a similar trend was observed in other metastatic sites combined, but did not reach formal significance.Conclusions: Our findings are the first to demonstrate that the PAM50 signature can provide prognostic information from the lymph node metastases of ABC patients. Clin Cancer Res; 23(23); 7225-31. ©2017 AACR.

Association of breast cancer risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers with genetic variants showing differential allelic expression: identification of a modifier of breast cancer risk at locus 11q22.3.

PURPOSE: Cis-acting regulatory SNPs resulting in differential allelic expression (DAE) may, in part, explain the underlying phenotypic variation associated with many complex diseases. To investigate whether common variants associated with DAE were involved in breast cancer susceptibility among BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, a list of 175 genes was developed based of their involvement in cancer-related pathways. METHODS: Using data from a genome-wide map of SNPs associated with allelic expression, we assessed the association of ~320 SNPs located in the vicinity of these genes with breast and ovarian cancer risks in 15,252 BRCA1 and 8211 BRCA2 mutation carriers ascertained from 54 studies participating in the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2. RESULTS: We identified a region on 11q22.3 that is significantly associated with breast cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers (most significant SNP rs228595 p = 7 × 10-6). This association was absent in BRCA2 carriers (p = 0.57). The 11q22.3 region notably encompasses genes such as ACAT1, NPAT, and ATM. Expression quantitative trait loci associations were observed in both normal breast and tumors across this region, namely for ACAT1, ATM, and other genes. In silico analysis revealed some overlap between top risk-associated SNPs and relevant biological features in mammary cell data, which suggests potential functional significance. CONCLUSION: We identified 11q22.3 as a new modifier locus in BRCA1 carriers. Replication in larger studies using estrogen receptor (ER)-negative or triple-negative (i.e., ER-, progesterone receptor-, and HER2-negative) cases could therefore be helpful to confirm the association of this locus with breast cancer risk.

Transcriptional Profiling of Breast Cancer Metastases Identifies Liver Metastasis-Selective Genes Associated with Adverse Outcome in Luminal A Primary Breast Cancer.

PURPOSE: The complete molecular basis of the organ-specificity of metastasis is elusive. This study aimed to provide an independent characterization of the transcriptional landscape of breast cancer metastases with the specific objective to identify liver metastasis-selective genes of prognostic importance following primary tumor diagnosis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A cohort of 304 women with advanced breast cancer was studied. Associations between the site of recurrence and clinicopathologic features were investigated. Fine-needle aspirates of metastases (n = 91) were subjected to whole-genome transcriptional profiling. Liver metastasis-selective genes were identified by significance analysis of microarray (SAM) analyses and independently validated in external datasets. Finally, the prognostic relevance of the liver metastasis-selective genes in primary breast cancer was tested. RESULTS: Liver relapse was associated with estrogen receptor (ER) expression (P = 0.002), luminal B subtype (P = 0.01), and was prognostic for an inferior postrelapse survival (P = 0.01). The major variation in the transcriptional landscape of metastases was also associated with ER expression and molecular subtype. However, liver metastases displayed unique transcriptional fingerprints, characterized by downregulation of extracellular matrix (i.e., stromal) genes. Importantly, we identified a 17-gene liver metastasis-selective signature, which was significantly and independently prognostic for shorter relapse-free (P < 0.001) and overall (P = 0.001) survival in ER-positive tumors. Remarkably, this signature remained independently prognostic for shorter relapse-free survival (P = 0.001) among luminal A tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Extracellular matrix (stromal) genes can be used to partition breast cancer by site of relapse and may be used to further refine prognostication in ER positive primary breast cancer.