The usefulness of CanAssist breast in the assessment of recurrence risk in patients of ethnic Indian origin.

Accurate recurrence risk assessment in hormone receptor positive, HER2/neu negative breast cancer is critical to plan precise therapy. CanAssist Breast (CAB) assesses recurrence risk based on tumor biology using artificial intelligence-based approach. We report CAB risk assessment correlating with disease outcomes in multiple clinically high- and low-risk subgroups. In this retrospective cohort of 925 patients [median age-54 (22-86)] CAB had hazard ratio (HR) of 3 (1.83-5.21) and 2.5 (1.45-4.29), P = 0.0009) in univariate and multivariate analysis. CAB's HR in sub-groups with the other determinants of outcome, T2 (HR: 2.79 (1.49-5.25), P = 0.0001); age [< 50 (HR: 3.14 (1.39-7), P = 0.0008)]. Besides application in node-negative patients, CAB's HR was 2.45 (1.34-4.47), P = 0.0023) in node-positive patients. In clinically low-risk patients (N0 tumors up to 5 cms) (HR: 2.48 (0.79-7.8), P = 0.03) and with luminal-A characteristics (HR: 4.54 (1-19.75), P = 0.004), CAB identified >16% as high-risk with recurrence rates of up to 12%. In clinically high-risk patients (T2N1 tumors (HR: 2.65 (1.31-5.36), P = 0.003; low-risk DMFS: 92.66 ± 1.88) and in women with luminal-B characteristics (HR: 3.24; (1.69-6.22), P < 0.0001; low-risk DMFS: 93.34 ± 1.34)), CAB identified >64% as low-risk. Thus, CAB prognostication was significant in women with clinically low- and high-risk disease. The data imply the use of CAB for providing helpful information to stratify tumors based on biology incorporated with clinical features for Indian patients, which can be extrapolated to regions with similarly characterized patients, South-East Asia.

Practical Consensus Recommendations for Optimizing Risk versus Benefit of Chemotherapy in Patients with HR Positive Her2 Negative Early Breast Cancer in India.

Breast cancer is a public health challenge globally as well as in India. Improving outcome and cure requires appropriate biomarker testing to assign risk and plan treatment. Because it is documented that significant ethnic and geographical variations in biological and genetic features exist worldwide, such biomarkers need to be validated and approved by authorities in the region where these are intended to be used. The use of western guidelines, appropriate for the Caucasian population, can lead to inappropriate overtreatment or undertreatment in Asia and India. A virtual meeting of domain experts discussed the published literature, real-world practical experience, and results of opinion poll involving 185 oncologists treating breast cancer across 58 cities of India. They arrived at a practical consensus recommendation statement to guide community oncologists in the management of hormone positive (HR-positive) Her2-negative early breast cancer (EBC). India has a majority (about 50%) of breast cancer patients who are diagnosed in the premenopausal stage (less than 50 years of age). The only currently available predictive test for HR-positive Her2-negative EBC that has been validated in Indian patients is CanAssist Breast. If this test gives a score indicative of low risk (< 15.5), adjuvant chemotherapy will not increase the chance of metastasis-free survival and should not be given. This is applicable even during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Individualized Chemotherapy Benefit Prediction by EndoPredict in Patients With Early Breast Cancer in an Indian Cohort.

PURPOSE: There are new advancements in the modulation of the treatment of patients with early-stage breast cancer, including the use of several molecular profiling tests to identify or select those patients who require additional adjuvant chemotherapy together with hormonal therapy on the basis of a recurrence score. One such tool is EndoPredict (Myriad Genetics; Salt Lake City, UT), which provides support in clinical decision making. The objective of this analysis was to study the landscape of absolute chemotherapy benefit and the likelihood of recurrence within 5 to 15 years in Indian patients with breast cancer who are undergoing EndoPredict testing. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 308 patients with hormone-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative early breast cancer. Their postsurgical blocks were analyzed using the EndoPredict test. The MEDCALC statistical tool (Panum Education; Seoul, Republic of Korea) was used to estimate the correlation coefficient and to conduct multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: On the basis of the EndoPredict EPclin Risk Score, 52.12% of patients were classified as being in the low-risk category and could safely forgo adjuvant chemotherapy. For every unit increase in the EPclin Risk Score, the percentage increase in absolute chemotherapy benefit was 6.82%. Similarly, the correlation between the likelihood of recurrence within 5 to 15 years and the EPclin Risk Score suggested that there is a 10.34% increase in recurrence for each unit of EPclin Risk Score. CONCLUSION: The EPclin Risk Score has good prognostic and predictive power; it also provides the range of chemotherapy benefit for Indian patients.

Clinical assessment scoring system for tracheostomy (CASST) criterion: Objective criteria to predict pre-operatively the need for a tracheostomy in head and neck malignancies.

BACKGROUND: Tracheostomy is a mainstay modality for airway management for patients with head-neck cancer undergoing surgery. This study aims to define factors predicting need of tracheostomy and define an effective objective criterion to predict tracheostomy need. METHODS: 486 patients undergoing composite resections were studied. Factors analyzed were age, previous surgery, extent of surgery, trismus, extent of mandibular resection and reconstruction etc. Factors were divided into major and minor, using the clinical assessment scoring system for tracheostomy (CASST) criterion. RESULTS: Sixty seven (13.7%) patients required tracheostomy for their peri-operative management. Elective tracheostomies were done in 53 cases during surgery and post-operatively in 14 patients. All patients in whom tracheostomies were anticipated had a score of seven or more. CONCLUSION: A decision on whether or not an elective tracheotomy in head and neck surgery is necessary and can be facilitated using CASST criterion, which has a sensitivity of 95.5% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 99.3%. It may reduce post-operative complications and contribute to safer treatment.