Validation and functional follow-up of cervical cancer risk variants at the HLA locus.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in females. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have proposed cervical cancer susceptibility variants at the HLA locus on chromosome 6p21. To corroborate these findings and investigate their functional impact in cervical tissues and cell lines, we genotyped nine variants from cervical cancer GWASs (rs17190106, rs535777, rs1056429, rs2763979, rs143954678, rs113937848, rs3117027, rs3130214, and rs9477610) in a German hospital-based series of 1122 invasive cervical cancers, 1408 dysplasias, and 1196 healthy controls. rs17190106, rs1056429 and rs143954678/rs113937848 associated with cervical malignancies overall, while rs17190106 and rs535777 associated specifically with invasive cancer (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.55-0.86, p = 0.001) or adenocarcinomas (OR = 1.63, 95%CI = 1.17-2.27, p = 0.004), respectively. We tested these and one previously genotyped GWAS variant, rs9272117, for potential eQTL effects on 36 gene transcripts at the HLA locus in 280 cervical epithelial tissues. The strongest eQTL pairs were rs9272117 and HLA-DRB6 (p = 1.9x10E-5), rs1056429 and HLA-DRB5 (p = 2.5x10E-4), and rs535777 and HLA-DRB1 (p = 2.7x10E-4). We also identified transcripts that were specifically upregulated (DDX39B, HCP5, HLA-B, LTB, NFKBIL1) or downregulated (HLA-C, HLA-DPB2) in HPV+ or HPV16+ samples. In comparison, treating cervical epithelial cells with proinflammatory cytokine γ-IFN led to a dose-dependent induction of HCP5, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DQB1, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DRB6, and repression of HSPA1L. Taken together, these results identify relevant genes from both the MHC class I and II regions that are inflammation-responsive in cervical epithelium and associate with HPV (HCP5, HLA-B, HLA-C) and/or with genomic cervical cancer risk variants (HLA-DRB1, HLA-DRB6). They may thus constitute important contributors to the immune escape of precancerous cells after HPV-infection.

Co-observation of germline pathogenic variants in breast cancer predisposition genes: Results from analysis of the BRIDGES sequencing dataset.

Co-observation of a gene variant with a pathogenic variant in another gene that explains the disease presentation has been designated as evidence against pathogenicity for commonly used variant classification guidelines. Multiple variant curation expert panels have specified, from consensus opinion, that this evidence type is not applicable for the classification of breast cancer predisposition gene variants. Statistical analysis of sequence data for 55,815 individuals diagnosed with breast cancer from the BRIDGES sequencing project was undertaken to formally assess the utility of co-observation data for germline variant classification. Our analysis included expected loss-of-function variants in 11 breast cancer predisposition genes and pathogenic missense variants in BRCA1, BRCA2, and TP53. We assessed whether co-observation of pathogenic variants in two different genes occurred more or less often than expected under the assumption of independence. Co-observation of pathogenic variants in each of BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 with the remaining genes was less frequent than expected. This evidence for depletion remained after adjustment for age at diagnosis, study design (familial versus population-based), and country. Co-observation of a variant of uncertain significance in BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2 with a pathogenic variant in another breast cancer gene equated to supporting evidence against pathogenicity following criterion strength assignment based on the likelihood ratio and showed utility in reclassification of missense BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants identified in BRIDGES. Our approach has applicability for assessing the value of co-observation as a predictor of variant pathogenicity in other clinical contexts, including for gene-specific guidelines developed by ClinGen Variant Curation Expert Panels.

BRCA-mutated breast cancer: the unmet need, challenges and therapeutic benefits of genetic testing.

Mutations in the BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 genes (BRCAm) increase the risk of developing breast cancer (BC) and are found in ~5% of unselected patients with the disease. BC resulting from a germline BRCAm (gBRCAm) has distinct clinical characteristics along with increased sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents such as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapies, and potentially decreased sensitivity to cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors. Given the evolving treatment landscape for gBRCAm BC in early and advanced disease settings, timely determination of gBRCAm status is fundamental to facilitate the most effective treatment strategy for patients. However, many patients with gBRCAm are not identified due to suboptimal referral rates and/or a low uptake of genetic testing. We discuss current evidence for a differential response to treatment in patients with gBRCAm in early and advanced BC settings, including outcomes with PARP inhibitors, platinum-based chemotherapies, and CDK4/6 inhibitors, as well as ongoing treatment innovations and the potential of these treatment approaches. Current genetic testing strategies are also examined, including the latest guidelines on who and when to test for gBRCAm, as well as challenges to testing and how these may be overcome.

Susceptibility gene mutations in germline and tumors of patients with HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 (gBRCA1/2) are required for a PARP inhibitor therapy in patients with HER2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (aBC). However, little is known about the prognostic impact of gBRCA1/2 mutations in aBC patients treated with chemotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the frequencies and prognosis of germline and somatic BRCA1/2 mutations in HER2- aBC patients receiving the first chemotherapy in the advanced setting. Patients receiving their first chemotherapy for HER2- aBC were retrospectively selected from the prospective PRAEGNANT registry (NCT02338167). Genotyping of 26 cancer predisposition genes was performed with germline DNA of 471 patients and somatic tumor DNA of 94 patients. Mutation frequencies, progression-free and overall survival (PFS, OS) according to germline mutation status were assessed. gBRCA1/2 mutations were present in 23 patients (4.9%), and 33 patients (7.0%) had mutations in other cancer risk genes. Patients with a gBRCA1/2 mutation had a better OS compared to non-mutation carriers (HR: 0.38; 95%CI: 0.17-0.86). PFS comparison was not statistically significant. Mutations in other risk genes did not affect prognosis. Two somatic BRCA2 mutations were found in 94 patients without gBRCA1/2 mutations. Most frequently somatic mutated genes were TP53 (44.7%), CDH1 (10.6%) and PTEN (6.4%). In conclusion, aBC patients with gBRCA1/2 mutations had a more favorable prognosis under chemotherapy compared to non-mutation carriers. The mutation frequency of ~5% with gBRCA1/2 mutations together with improved outcome indicates that germline genotyping of all metastatic patients for whom a PARP inhibitor therapy is indicated should be considered.

Prognostic impact of selection criteria of current adjuvant endocrine therapy trials NATALEE and monarchE in postmenopausal HRpos/HER2neg breast cancer patients treated with upfront letrozole.

BACKGROUND: The monarchE and NATALEE trials demonstrated the benefit of CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i) therapy in adjuvant breast cancer (BC) treatment. Patient selection, based on clinical characteristics, delineated those at high (monarchE) and high/intermediate recurrence risk (NATALEE). This study employed a historical patient cohort to describe the proportion and prognosis of patients eligible for adjuvant CDK4/6i trials. METHODS: Between 2009 and 2011, 3529 patients were enrolled in the adjuvant PreFace clinical trial (NCT01908556). Eligibility criteria included postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive (HRpos) BC for whom a five-year upfront therapy with letrozole was indicated. Patients were categorized into prognostic groups according to monarchE and NATALEE inclusion criteria, and their invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed. RESULTS: Among 2891 HRpos patients, 384 (13.3 %) met the primary monarchE inclusion criteria. The majority (n = 261) qualified due to having ≥ 4 positive lymph nodes. For NATALEE, 915 out of 2886 patients (31.7 %) met the eligibility criteria, with 126 patients (13.7 %) being node-negative. Patients from monarchE with ≥ 4 positive lymph nodes and NATALEE with stage III BC exhibited the poorest prognosis (3-year iDFS rate 0.87). Patients ineligible for the trials demonstrated prognoses similar to the most favorable patient groups within the eligibility criteria. CONCLUSION: Patient populations eligible for monarchE and NATALEE trials differed. Nearly a third of the postmenopausal HRpos population, previously under upfront letrozole treatment, met the NATALEE prognostic eligibility criteria. As certain eligible groups had a prognosis similar to non-eligible patients, it might be interesting to explore additional patient groups for CDK4/6i therapy.

Update Breast Cancer 2024 Part 1 - Expert Opinion on Advanced Breast Cancer.

Clinical evidence is interpreted based on clinical studies and personal experience which can lead to different interpretations of data. This makes the opinions issued by panels of experts such as the Advanced Breast Cancer Panel which convened in November 2023 for the seventh time (ABC7) particularly important. At the conference, current issues around advanced breast cancer were evaluated by an international team of experts. In 2023 the data on CDK4/6 inhibitors was so extensive that the answers to questions about the sequencing of therapy and the potential use of chemotherapy as an alternative therapy were relatively clear. Moreover, data on antibody drug conjugates which provides a good overview of their uses is available for all molecular subtypes. Some therapeutic settings, including patients with brain metastases or leptomeningeal disease, older patients, locally advanced breast cancer and visceral crises, continue to be particularly important and were discussed in structured sessions. The scientific context of some of the topics discussed at ABC7 is presented and assessed here.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with Early Breast Cancer: Update 2024.

Introduction: Each year the interdisciplinary AGO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie, German Gynecological Oncology Group) Breast Committee on Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer provides updated state-of-the-art recommendations for early and metastatic breast cancer. Methods: The updated evidence-based treatment recommendations for early and metastatic breast cancer have been released in March 2024. Results and Conclusion: This paper concisely captures the updated recommendations for early breast cancer chapter by chapter.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with Locally Advanced and Metastatic Breast Cancer: Update 2024.

The Breast Committee of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie (German Gynecological Oncology Group, AGO) presents the 2024 update of the evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer.

Evaluation of ChatGPT's Potential in Tailoring Gynecological Cancer Therapies.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Demographic change and increasing complexity of therapy decisions lead to a growing burden on the healthcare system, necessitating efforts to simplify and enhance the efficiency of patient care. The present study evaluates ChatGPT's ability to provide therapy recommendations for gynecological malignancies that are both in line with the local guidelines and individually tailored to the patient. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with endometrial, cervical, and ovarian cancer who were treated in the gynecological clinic of the University Hospital Erlangen from January 2022 to August 2023 were included in the analysis. Data collected within clinical routine care were communicated to the chat-based AI model ChatGPT (version 3.5). ChatGPT's performance generating treatment plans were evaluated using an answer scoring system and descriptive analysis. RESULTS: According to the answer scoring system [range: -1 point (minimum) to 2 points (maximum)], ChatGPT demonstrated a good potential in generating therapy recommendations with an average score of 0.75 points for patients with ovarian cancer, 0.7 points for cervical and 1.5 points for endometrial cancer patients. The most common deductions in points were about incomplete therapy recommendations, whereas contraindicated treatment modalities were rarely suggested. Individual patient characteristics were regularly considered by ChatGPT. ChatGPT reliably indicated aftercare and provided detailed information on preventive measures as well as supportive treatment. CONCLUSION: ChatGPT is a promising tool for the generation of therapy suggestions for gynecological carcinomas with high flexibility in response to individual patient differences. At the current state, however, ChatGPT is not suitable for replacing expert panels.

Correlation of RANK and RANKL with mammographic density in primary breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE: The receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B (RANK) and its ligand (RANKL) have been shown to promote proliferation of the breast and breast carcinogenesis. The objective of this analysis was to investigate whether tumor-specific RANK and RANKL expression in patients with primary breast cancer is associated with high percentage mammographic density (PMD), which is a known breast cancer risk factor. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining of RANK and RANKL was performed in tissue microarrays (TMAs) from primary breast cancer samples of the Bavarian Breast Cancer Cases and Controls (BBCC) study. For RANK and RANKL expression, histochemical scores (H scores) with a cut-off value of > 0 vs 0 were established. PMD was measured in the contralateral, non-diseased breast. Linear regression models with PMD as outcome were calculated using common predictors of PMD (age at breast cancer diagnosis, body mass index (BMI) and parity) and RANK and RANKL H scores. Additionally, Spearman rank correlations (ρ) between PMD and RANK and RANKL H score were performed. RESULTS: In the final cohort of 412 patients, breast cancer-specific RANK and RANKL expression was not associated with PMD (P = 0.68). There was no correlation between PMD and RANK H score (Spearman's ρ = 0.01, P = 0.87) or RANKL H score (Spearman's ρ = 0.04, P = 0.41). RANK expression was highest in triple-negative tumors, followed by HER2-positive, luminal B-like and luminal A-like tumors, while no subtype-specific expression of RANKL was found. CONCLUSION: Results do not provide evidence for an association of RANK and RANKL expression in primary breast cancer with PMD.

Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab+chemotherapy/adjuvant pembrolizumab for Early-Stage Triple-Negative breast cancer: Quality-of-Life results from randomized KEYNOTE-522 study.

BACKGROUND: In KEYNOTE-522 (NCT03036488), neoadjuvant pembrolizumab+chemotherapy then adjuvant pembrolizumab significantly improved pathological complete response and event-free survival vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We report patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from KEYNOTE-522. METHODS: Patients were randomized 2:1 to neoadjuvant pembrolizumab 200 mg or placebo every 3 weeks, plus 4 cycles of paclitaxel+carboplatin then 4 cycles of doxorubicin (or epirubicin)+cyclophosphamide. After surgery, patients received adjuvant pembrolizumab or placebo for up to 9 cycles. EORTC QLQ-30 and QLQ-BR23 were prespecified secondary objectives. Between-group differences in least squares (LS) mean change from baseline (day 1/cycle 1 in both neoadjuvant and adjuvant phases) to the prespecified latest time point with ≥60%/80% completion/compliance were assessed using a longitudinal model (no alpha error assigned). RESULTS: Week 21 (neoadjuvant phase) and week 24 (adjuvant phase) were the latest time points at which completion/compliance rates were ≥60%/80%. In the neoadjuvant phase, between-group differences (pembrolizumab+chemotherapy [N = 762] vs placebo+chemotherapy [N = 383]) in LS mean change from baseline to week 21 in QLQ-C30 GHS/QoL, emotional functioning, and physical functioning were -1.04 (95% CI, -3.46 to 1.38), -0.69 (95% CI, -3.13 to 1.75), and -2.85 (95% CI, -5.11 to - 0.60), respectively. In the adjuvant phase, between-group differences (pembrolizumab [N = 539] vs placebo [N = 308]) in LS mean change from baseline to week 24 were -0.41 (95% CI, -2.60 to 1.77), -0.60 (95% CI, -2.99 to 1.79), and -1.57 (95% CI, -3.36 to 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: No substantial differences in PRO assessments were observed between neoadjuvant pembrolizumab+chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab vs neoadjuvant placebo+chemotherapy in early-stage TNBC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03036488.

An Analysis of PIK3CA Hotspot Mutations and Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy in Patients with Breast Cancer from Four Prospective Clinical Trials.

PURPOSE: The PI3K signaling pathway is frequently dysregulated in breast cancer, and mutations in PIK3CA are relevant for therapy resistance in HER2-positive (HER2pos) breast cancer. Mutations in exons 9 or 20 may have different impacts on response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy-based treatment regimens. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We investigated PIK3CA mutations in 1,691 patients with early breast cancer who were randomized into four neoadjuvant multicenter trials: GeparQuattro (NCT00288002), GeparQuinto (NCT00567554), GeparSixto (NCT01426880), and GeparSepto (NCT01583426). The role of different PIK3CA exons and hotspots for pathologic complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and patient survival were evaluated for distinct molecular subgroups and anti-HER2 treatment procedures. RESULTS: A total of 302 patients (17.9%) of the full cohort of 1,691 patients had a tumor with a PIK3CA mutation, with a different prevalence in molecular subgroups: luminal/HER2-negative (HER2neg) 95 of 404 (23.5%), HER2pos 170 of 819 (20.8%), and triple-negative breast cancer 37 of 468 patients (7.9%). We identified the mutations in PIK3CA exon 20 to be linked with worse response to anti-HER2 treatment (OR = 0.507; 95% confidence interval, 0.320-0.802; P = 0.004), especially in hormone receptor-positive HER2-positive breast cancer (OR = 0.445; 95% confidence interval, 0.237-0.837; P = 0.012). In contrast, exon 9 hotspot mutations p.E452K and p.E545K revealed no noteworthy differences in response therapy. Luminal/HER2neg patients show a trend to have worse treatment response when PIK3CA was mutated. Interestingly, patients with residual disease following neoadjuvant treatment had better survival rates when PIK3CA was mutated. CONCLUSIONS: The PIK3CA hotspot mutation p.H1047R is associated with worse pCR rates following NACT in HER2pos breast cancer, whereas hotspot mutations in exon 9 seem to have less impact.

Integrative multi-omics analyses to identify the genetic and functional mechanisms underlying ovarian cancer risk regions.

To identify credible causal risk variants (CCVs) associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we performed genome-wide association analysis for 470,825 genotyped and 10,163,797 imputed SNPs in 25,981 EOC cases and 105,724 controls of European origin. We identified five histotype-specific EOC risk regions (p value <5 × 10-8) and confirmed previously reported associations for 27 risk regions. Conditional analyses identified an additional 11 signals independent of the primary signal at six risk regions (p value <10-5). Fine mapping identified 4,008 CCVs in these regions, of which 1,452 CCVs were located in ovarian cancer-related chromatin marks with significant enrichment in active enhancers, active promoters, and active regions for CCVs from each EOC histotype. Transcriptome-wide association and colocalization analyses across histotypes using tissue-specific and cross-tissue datasets identified 86 candidate susceptibility genes in known EOC risk regions and 32 genes in 23 additional genomic regions that may represent novel EOC risk loci (false discovery rate <0.05). Finally, by integrating genome-wide HiChIP interactome analysis with transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS), variant effect predictor, transcription factor ChIP-seq, and motifbreakR data, we identified candidate gene-CCV interactions at each locus. This included risk loci where TWAS identified one or more candidate susceptibility genes (e.g., HOXD-AS2, HOXD8, and HOXD3 at 2q31) and other loci where no candidate gene was identified (e.g., MYC and PVT1 at 8q24) by TWAS. In summary, this study describes a functional framework and provides a greater understanding of the biological significance of risk alleles and candidate gene targets at EOC susceptibility loci identified by a genome-wide association study.

Quality-Assured Analysis of PIK3CA Mutations in Hormone Receptor-Positive/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative Breast Cancer Tissue.

In precision oncology, reliable testing of predictive molecular biomarkers is a prerequisite for optimal patient treatment. Interlaboratory comparisons are a crucial tool to verify diagnostic performance and reproducibility of one's approach. Herein is described the design and results of the first recurrent, internationally performed PIK3CA (phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3 kinase catalytic subunit α) breast cancer tissue external quality assessment (EQA), organized by German Quality in Pathology GmbH and started in 2021. After the internal pretesting phase performed by the (lead) panel institutes, in both 2021 and 2022, each EQA test set comprised n = 10 tissue samples of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative invasive breast cancer that had to be analyzed and reported by the participants. In 2021, the results were evaluated separately for German-speaking countries (part 1) and international laboratories (part 2). In 2022, the EQA was performed across the European Union. The EQA success rates were 84.6% (n = 11/13), 88.6% (n = 39/44), and 87.9% (n = 29/33) for EQA 2021 part 1, part 2, and EQA 2022, respectively. The most commonly used methods were next-generation sequencing and mutation-/allele-specific qualitative PCR-based assays. In summary, this recurrent PIK3CA EQA proved to be a suitable approach to obtain an international overview of methods used for PIK3CA mutation analysis, to evaluate them qualitatively, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual methods.

Correction: Long-term Follow-up and Safety of Patients after an Upfront Therapy with Letrozole for Early Breast Cancer in Routine Clinical Care - The PreFace Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1055/a-2238-3153.].

Attrition in the First Three Therapy Lines in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer in the German Real-World PRAEGNANT Registry.

Background With more effective therapies for patients with advanced breast cancer (aBC), therapy sequences are becoming increasingly important. However, some patients might drop out of the treatment sequence due to deterioration of their life status. Since little is known about attrition in the real-world setting, this study assessed attrition in the first three therapy lines using a real-world registry. Methods Patients with information available on the first three therapy lines were selected from the German PRAEGNANT registry (NCT02338167). Attrition was determined for each therapy line using competing risk analyses, with the start of the next therapy line or death as endpoints. Additionally, a simple attrition rate was calculated based on the proportion of patients who completed therapy but did not start the next therapy line. Results Competitive risk analyses were performed on 3988 1st line, 2651 2nd line and 1866 3rd line patients. The probabilities of not starting the next therapy line within 5 years after initiation of 1st, 2nd and 3rd line therapy were 30%, 24% and 24% respectively. Patients with HER2-positive disease had the highest risk for attrition, while patients with HRpos/HER2neg disease had the lowest risk. Attrition rates remained similar across molecular subgroups in the different therapy lines. Conclusion Attrition affects a large proportion of patients with aBC, which should be considered when planning novel therapy concepts that specifically address the sequencing of therapies. Taking attrition into account could help understand treatment effects resulting from sequential therapies and might help develop treatment strategies that specifically aim at maintaining quality of life.

CDK4/6 Inhibition - Therapy Sequences and the Quest to Find the Best Biomarkers - an Overview of Current Programs.

In recent years, new targeted therapies have been developed to treat patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer. Some of these therapies have not just become the new therapy standard but also led to significantly longer overall survival rates. The cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) have become the therapeutic standard for first-line therapy. Around 70 - 80% of patients are treated with a CDK4/6i. In recent years, a number of biomarkers associated with progression, clonal selection or evolution have been reported for CDK4/6i and their endocrine combination partners. Understanding the mechanisms behind treatment efficacy and resistance is important. A better understanding could contribute to planning the most effective therapeutic sequences and utilizing basic molecular information to overcome endocrine resistance. One study with large numbers of patients which aims to elucidate these mechanisms is the Comprehensive Analysis of sPatial, TempORal and molecular patterns of ribociclib efficacy and resistance in advanced Breast Cancer patients (CAPTOR BC) trial. This overview summarizes the latest clinical research on resistance to endocrine therapies, focusing on CDK4/6 inhibitors and discussing current study concepts.

Discussion of ABC7 Consensus and German Recommendations.

The rationale behind the "International Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer" (ABC) is to standardize the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer worldwide using an evidence-based approach. The aim is also to ensure that patients in all countries receive adequate treatment based on current treatment recommendations and standards. The 7th International Consensus Conference on Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC7) took place from November 9 to 12, 2023 in Lisbon/Portugal. ABC7 focused on metastatic disease as well as on locally advanced and inflammatory breast cancer. Special topics included the treatment of oligometastatic patients, leptomeningeal disease, treatment of brain metastases, and pregnant women with ABC. As in previous years, patient advocates from all over the world participated in the consensus conference and were involved in decision making.

Power-MF: robust fetal QRS detection from non-invasive fetal electrocardiogram recordings.

Objective.Perinatal asphyxia poses a significant risk to neonatal health, necessitating accurate fetal heart rate monitoring for effective detection and management. The current gold standard, cardiotocography, has inherent limitations, highlighting the need for alternative approaches. The emerging technology of non-invasive fetal electrocardiography shows promise as a new sensing technology for fetal cardiac activity, offering potential advancements in the detection and management of perinatal asphyxia. Although algorithms for fetal QRS detection have been developed in the past, only a few of them demonstrate accurate performance in the presence of noise and artifacts.Approach.In this work, we proposePower-MF, a new algorithm for fetal QRS detection combining power spectral density and matched filter techniques. We benchmarkPower-MFagainst three open-source algorithms on two recently published datasets (Abdominal and Direct Fetal ECG Database: ADFECG, subsets B1 Pregnancy and B2 Labour; Non-invasive Multimodal Foetal ECG-Doppler Dataset for Antenatal Cardiology Research: NInFEA).Main results.Our results show thatPower-MFoutperforms state-of-the-art algorithms on ADFECG (B1 Pregnancy: 99.5% ± 0.5% F1-score, B2 Labour: 98.0% ± 3.0% F1-score) and on NInFEA in three of six electrode configurations by being more robust against noise.Significance.Through this work, we contribute to improving the accuracy and reliability of fetal cardiac monitoring, an essential step toward early detection of perinatal asphyxia with the long-term goal of reducing costs and making prenatal care more accessible.