Kammler, Roswitha

Importance The Breast Cancer Index (BCI) previously identified premenopausal patients with tumors in which the ratio of expression of HOXB13 relative to IL17BR (hereafter, BCI [H/I]–low tumors) as likely to derive greatest benefit from ovarian function suppression (OFS)–containing adjuvant therapy in the Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT) trial. Objectives To assess BCI as a predictive biomarker of benefit from exemestane plus OFS vs tamoxifen plus OFS and to validate BCI as a prognostic biomarker for premenopausal patients. Design, Setting, and Participants This prognostic study used a prospective-retrospective translational design within the Tamoxifen and Exemestane (TEXT) and SOFT trials (enrolled November 2003 to April 2011). Blinded BCI testing in all available tumor samples was completed in March 2024. Premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer randomized to tamoxifen plus OFS or exemestane plus OFS who had BCI assessed were included. Analysis occurred from March to August 2024. Exposure 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen plus OFS or exemestane plus OFS. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcomes were breast cancer-free interval (BCFI) for predictive analyses and distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI) for prognostic analyses after a median follow-up of 13 years in the TEXT cohort. Secondary objectives examined the predictive performance of BCI (H/I) in the combined TEXT and SOFT cohort overall and in prespecified clinical subgroups. Results Of 1782 patients in the TEXT study, 1034 (58.0%) had BCI (H/I)–low tumors; 915 (51.3%) of patients had N0 disease and 1077 (60.4%) were younger than 45 years. Patients with BCI (H/I)–low tumors had a 6.6% absolute benefit in 12-year BCFI (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.44-0.85) for exemestane plus OFS vs tamoxifen plus OFS, while those with BCI (H/I)–high tumors had a 6.3% absolute benefit (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.57-1.07; P for interaction = .29). Results were consistent in the combined TEXT plus SOFT cohort (2896 patients) and adjusting for clinicopathological variables. Clinical subgroup analyses consistently showed benefit of exemestane plus OFS vs tamoxifen plus OFS for BCI (H/I)–low tumors, and more variable relative treatment effects among BCI (H/I)–high tumors, including by age. Post hoc exploratory time-varying estimates suggested the treatment × BCI associations may differ in years 0 to 5 vs greater than 5 years. BCI and BCI N+ as continuous indices were prognostic for distant recurrence in N0 (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11-1.44; P < .001) and N1 (HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.21-2.05; P < .001) cancers. The 12-year DRFI was 96.3%, 90.3%, and 84.9% for BCI low-, intermediate-, and high-risk N0 cancers, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance In this study of premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, BCI (H/I) status did not clearly predict greater benefit of adjuvant exemestane plus OFS vs tamoxifen plus OFS for women with BCI (H/I)–low tumors than for those with BCI (H/I)–high tumors; BCI continuous indices were reconfirmed as prognostic for premenopausal women. These findings support prior results of SOFT, which compared tamoxifen-alone vs OFS with either exemestane or tamoxifen, indicating premenopausal patients with BCI (H/I)–low tumors may benefit from more intensive endocrine therapy.

ImportanceAdjuvant ovarian function suppression (OFS) with oral endocrine therapy improves outcomes for premenopausal patients with hormone receptor–positive (HR+) breast cancer but adds adverse effects. A genomic biomarker for selecting patients most likely to benefit from OFS-based treatment is lacking.ObjectiveTo assess the predictive and prognostic performance of the Breast Cancer Index (BCI) for OFS benefit in premenopausal women with HR+ breast cancer.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis prospective-retrospective translational study used all available tumor tissue samples from female patients from the Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT). These individuals were randomized to receive 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen alone, tamoxifen plus OFS, or exemestane plus OFS. BCI testing was performed blinded to clinical data and outcome. The a priori hypothesis was that BCI HOXB13/IL17BR ratio (BCI[H/I])–high tumors would benefit more from OFS and high BCI portended poorer prognosis in this population. Settings spanned multiple centers internationally. Participants included premenopausal female patients with HR+ early breast cancer with specimens in the International Breast Cancer Study Group tumor repository available for RNA extraction. Data were collected from December 2003 to April 2021 and were analyzed from May 2022 to October 2022.Main Outcomes and MeasuresPrimary end points were breast cancer–free interval (BCFI) for the predictive analysis and distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI) for the prognostic analyses.ResultsTumor specimens were available for 1718 of the 3047 female patients in the SOFT intention-to-treat population. The 1687 patients (98.2%) who had specimens that yielded sufficient RNA for BCI testing represented the parent trial population. The median (IQR) follow-up time was 12 (10.5-13.4) years, and 512 patients (30.3%) were younger than 40 years. Tumors were BCI(H/I)-low for 972 patients (57.6%) and BCI(H/I)-high for 715 patients (42.4%). Patients with tumors classified as BCI(H/I)-low exhibited a 12-year absolute benefit in BCFI of 11.6% from exemestane plus OFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.48 [95% CI, 0.33-0.71]) and an absolute benefit of 7.3% from tamoxifen plus OFS (HR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.48-0.97]) relative to tamoxifen alone. In contrast, patients with BCI(H/I)-high tumors did not benefit from either exemestane plus OFS (absolute benefit, −0.4%; HR, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.70-1.53]; P for interaction = .006) or tamoxifen plus OFS (absolute benefit, −1.2%; HR, 1.05 [95% CI, 0.72-1.54]; P for interaction = .11) compared with tamoxifen alone. BCI continuous index was significantly prognostic in the N0 subgroup for DRFI (n = 1110; P = .004), with 12-year DRFI of 95.9%, 90.8%, and 86.3% in BCI low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk N0 cancers, respectively.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this prospective-retrospective translational study of patients enrolled in SOFT, BCI was confirmed as prognostic in premenopausal women with HR+ breast cancer. The benefit from OFS-containing adjuvant endocrine therapy was greater for patients with BCI(H/I)-low tumors than BCI(H/I)-high tumors. BCI(H/I)-low status may identify premenopausal patients who are likely to benefit from this more intensive endocrine therapy.

Abstract Tamoxifen (T) is a pro-drug that undergoes CYP2D6-mediated metabolic activation to metabolites that more potently inhibit estrogen stimulated growth compared to the parent drug. While many studies have examined the role of CYP2D6 genotype in T-treated postmenopausal women, the role of CYP2D6 metabolism in premenopausal women (pre-MW) receiving T, with or without ovarian function suppression (OFS) or exemestane (E) and OFS is unknown. Methods: SOFT randomized 3066 (pre-MW) from 2003-2011 in 27 countries, stratified according to prior receipt or nonreceipt of chemotherapy and nodal status, to receive 5 years of T, T+OFS, or E+OFS. We designed a pharmacogenetics substudy (activated October 2010) to collect blood DNA from North American (NA) patients (pts) or to extract non-tumor DNA from available formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks. For pts with a blood sample, CYP2D6 was genotyped beginning with the Luminex Tag-It Mutation Detection Kit and when needed, with a copy number variation assay and/or sequencing assays. For pts with FFPE-derived DNA, CYP2D6 genotyping for *3, *4, *6, *9, *10, *17 and *41 was performed using a Taqman Allelic Discrimination Assay. CYP2D6 phenotypes were called by classifying pts on the basis of a combination of poor (PM: *3, *4, *5, *6, *7, *8), slow (SM: *10), intermediate (IM: *9, *17, *29, *41) and extensive metabolizer alleles (EM; all others). Activity scores (AS) from phenotypes assigned for each allele: 0 if PM, 0.25 if SM, 0.5 if IM and 1 if EM allele, and multiplied x2 or x3 if duplicate or triplicate. With concomitant use of potent CYP2D6 inhibitor, AS=0; use of weak inhibitor subtracted 0.5. Metabolizer status was defined by CYP2D6 genotype alone or in combination with CYP2D6 inhibitor use at randomization from the AS: extensive (AS 1.25 to 3), intermediate (AS >0.5 to <1.25), slow/poor (AS 0 to 0.5) metabolizer status. The laboratory was blinded to all clinical data. The substudy primary objective was to assess the association between disease-free survival (DFS) and CYP2D6 metabolizer status in the T arm, and secondarily in the T + OFS, and E + OFS arms. A Cox model estimated hazard ratios comparing status according to treatment assignment, with prespecified prognostic factors. Results: 1200/3047 (39%) randomized pts in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population had successful CYP2D6 genotyping and 50% received prior chemotherapy. Following randomization, 435/1023 (42%) NA pts provided a blood sample and CYP2D6 genotypes were derived in 435/435. Non-tumor tissue was macrodissected from 1277 available FFPE blocks, resulting in DNA concentrations of > 0.3 ng/ml in 1053, and successfully derived CYP2D6 genotypes for 765/3047 pts (25%). 182 (15%) pts had DFS events after 8 yrs median follow-up. Metabolizer status from genotype was 57% extensive, 29% intermediate, 15% slow/poor. Metabolizer status was not associated with DFS in pts assigned T alone (P=0.60; Table), nor in pts assigned T+OFS (P=0.41) or E+OFS (P=0.30). 11% of pts used CYP2D6 inhibitors concomitantly at randomization; for 8% it changed the metabolizer status. The results using this definition were consistent. Conclusion: This retrospective-prospective SOFT pharmacogenetics substudy found no relation of CYP2D6 metabolizer status with DFS in premenopausal pts receiving T, T + OFS, or E + OFS. Given that 50% were pretreated with chemotherapy, further study is needed regarding the role of CYP2D6 metabolism in patients treated with T monotherapy. TableTreatment GroupN pts (N events)Comparison (N pts)Hazard Ratio95% CITamoxifen324 (56)Intermediate (114) vs Extensive (210)0.780.43-1.39Tamoxifen265 (52)Slow/Poor (55) vs Extensive (210)1.110.58-2.13Tamoxifen + OFS357 (46)Intermediate (122) vs Extensive (235)0.730.38-1.40Tamoxifen + OFS299 (45)Slow/Poor (64) vs Extensive (235)1.250.64-2.43Exemestane + OFS344 (46)Intermediate (107) vs Extensive (237)0.590.28-1.22Exemestane + OFS293 (47)Slow/Poor (56) vs Extensive (237)1.130.56-2.27 Citation Format: Matthew P. Goetz, Gini F. Fleming, Mary Kuffel, John R. Hawse, John L. Black, Richard Weinshilboum, James N. Ingle, Patrizia dell’Orto, Olivia Biasi, Roswitha Kammler, Sherene Loi, Marco Colleoni, Giuseppe Viale, Prudence A Francis, Meredith M Regan. The role of CYP2D6 mediated tamoxifen metabolism in the suppression of ovarian function trial (SOFT) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD2-09.