Sledge, George W.

Abstract Introduction: Paclitaxel induced peripheral neuropathy (TIPN) is one of the most important survivorship issues of cancer patients with the potential to substantially impact quality of life. TIPN can lead to dose reductions, early cessation, and has the potential to compromise treatment efficacy. We previously reported both rare (SBF2) and common germline (FCAMR) predictors for TIPN in patients of African descent through whole-exome sequencing (WES) and a genome-wide association study (GWAS), respectively, in the adjuvant, randomized phase III breast cancer trial, E5103. These predictors are now being evaluated in the prospective ECOG-ACRIN trial EAZ171 (NCT04001829). We have also previously reported our evaluation of common germline variants for patients of European descent through GWAS in E5103 with validation in another adjuvant breast cancer trial, E1199. Herein, we evaluated for rare variants that were associated with risk of TIPN in patients of European ancestry from WES in E5103. Methods: Gene-based rare variant analyses using SKAT were performed to compare select cases of severe TIPN (n=172) and controls without any evidence of TIPN (n=170) derived from E5103. Cases were defined as those with at least grade 3 TIPN and controls were optimally. matched by demographic and risk factors and had no reported evidence for TIPN of any grade. Germline WES was conducted using Ion Proton™ Sequencers from Life Technologies with an average >100X coverage of the exome. Rare variants with a minor allele frequency <3% predicted to be deleterious by protein prediction programs were retained for the analysis. 7,278 genes passed quality control and were included in the analysis, setting the threshold for significance at a p-value < 6.87 ×10-6 after Bonferroni correction. Results: Cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) was significantly associated with an increased risk of grade 3+ TIPN (p =1.82 ×10-6). Six variants predicted to be deleterious in POR were identified in the study population. Paclitaxel is predominately metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C8 and 3A4. A functional cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase is required for the catalytic activities of all 57 CYP family members to metabolize drugs, xenobiotics, and steroid hormones. Conclusion: Rare variants in cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase predicted an increased risk of severe TIPN in patients receiving paclitaxel. These rare variants in POR may modulate the catalytic activities of P450 enzymes that are responsible for paclitaxel metabolism and have a striking biological rationale as contributors to TIPN. Work is ongoing to validate these findings mechanistically and to identify strategies to nullify the impact of these deleterious variants. Citation Format: Fei Shen, Guanglong Jiang, Laura Gardner, Gloria Xue, Santosh Philips, Reynold Ly, Osei Wilberforce, Xi Wu, Erica Cantor, Chau Dang, Donald Northfelt, Todd Skaar, Kathy D. Miller, George Sledge, Bryan P Schneider. Cytochrome P450 reductase gene, POR, associated with paclitaxel induced peripheral neuropathy in patients of European ancestry from the adjuvant breast cancer trial, ECOG-ACRIN E5103 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-08-02.

Abstract Background: In MONARCH 2, abemaciclib plus fulvestrant significantly improved median progression-free survival (PFS, 16.4 vs 9.3 months, hazard ratio [HR], 0.553) and overall survival (OS, 46.7 vs 37.3 months; HR, 0.757) compared with placebo plus fulvestrant in hormone receptor-positive (HR-positive), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-negative) advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients who were endocrine therapy (ET) resistant, regardless of menopausal status. Here, we report findings in the premenopausal subgroup of the MONARCH 2 trial. Methods: The premenopausal subgroup included patients with natural menstrual bleeding who received a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist at least 4 weeks prior to study treatment start date and for the entire study duration. Of the 669 patients enrolled in the MONARCH 2 trial, 114 were premenopausal (abemaciclib plus fulvestrant, n=72; placebo plus fulvestrant, n=42), and were included in this analysis. The primary objective was investigator-assessed PFS and secondary objectives were OS, objective response rate, and safety and tolerability. Exploratory analyses included time to second disease progression (PFS2), time to chemotherapy (TTC), and chemotherapy-free survival (CFS). Results: At the primary objective cutoff (14 February, 2017), median PFS was not reached for the abemaciclib plus fulvestrant arm versus 10.52 months for the placebo plus fulvestrant arm (HR, 0.415; 95% CI, 0.246-0.698). At the pre-specified OS interim cutoff (20 June, 2019), median PFS was 28.6 months in the abemaciclib plus fulvestrant arm compared with 10.26 months in the placebo plus fulvestrant arm (HR, 0.477; 95% CI, 0.302-0.755). OS benefit was observed in the abemaciclib plus fulvestrant compared to fulvestrant alone (HR, 0.689; 95% CI, 0.379-1.252, median, not reached vs 47.3 months). Improvements were also observed for the exploratory outcomes of PFS2 (HR, 0.599), TTC (HR, 0.674), and CFS (HR, 0.642) with the addition of abemaciclib to fulvestrant. The safety profile was generally consistent with results disclosed previously. Conclusions: Results of the premenopausal subgroup in the MONARCH 2 trial were consistent with the improved clinical outcomes observed in the intent-to-treat population. The analysis provides support for the use of abemaciclib plus fulvestrant (with ovarian suppression) as an effective treatment option for premenopausal patients with HR+, HER2- ABC who are ET-resistant. Clinical trial registration: NCT02107703. Registered 08 April 2014- Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02107703

520 Background: Systemic inflammation may contribute to cancer progression (PMC2803035), including recurrence of early breast cancer (PMC4828958). We hypothesized that inflammatory cytokines and/or chemokines may be associated with distant recurrence (DR). Methods: We performed a case:control study in women with stage II-III Her2-negative breast cancer, all of whom had surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy (doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide, then weekly paclitaxel) with/without bevacizumab, plus endocrine therapy if ER-positive (PMC6118403). Propensity score matching was used to identify approximately 250 case:control pairs (with/without DR). Serum samples obtained before adjuvant chemotherapy were analyzed using the MSD V-Plex Human Cytokine 36-Plex Kit for detection of human cytokines and chemokines involved in the Th1/Th2 pathway, chemotaxis, the Th17 pathway, angiogenesis, and immune system regulation. Conditional logistic regression analysis, with models fit via maximum likelihood, were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and test for associations. Due to skewed nature of cytokines, HRs are reported on log base 2 scale. If adjusted for multiple testing including 36 markers, a p value of < 0.0014 would be required for statistical significance. Results: A total 249 matched pairs (498 patients) were identified. Covariates used for propensity score matching included age, menopausal status (post 54% vs. pre/peri 46%), ER/PR status (one/both pos 64% vs. both neg 36%) tumor size ( < = 2cm 17%, > 2-5cm 67%, > 5cm 16%) nodal status (neg 15%,1-3+ 32%, 4+ 53%), and grade (low 3%, int. 31%, high 66%). The only biomarker associated with a significantly increased DR risk when adjusted for multiple testing was the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 (HR 1.37, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.15, 1.65, p = 0.0006). Others associated with a 2-sided p value < 0.05 included the chemokine MDC(macrophage-derived chemokine/CCL22) (1.90, 95% CI 1.17, 3.1, p = 0.0098), the T helper cell inflammatory cytokine IL-17A (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.10, 1.67, p = 0.0052), and the cytokine VEGF-A (HR 1.13 for, 95% CI 1.01, 1.27, p = 0.037). There was no statistical interaction between VEGF-A and bevacizumab benefit. The median and mean value for IL-6 was 0.95 and 7.5 pg/ml (range 0.04-2761.24 pg/ml). Conclusions: This analysis provides level 1B evidence indicating that higher levels of the cytokine IL-6 at diagnosis are associated with a significantly higher DR risk in high-risk stage II-III breast cancer despite optimal adjuvant systemic therapy. This provides a foundation for confirmatory validation of IL-6 as a prognostic biomarker, and potentially as a predictive biomarker for testing therapeutic interventions targeting the IL-6/JAK/STAT3 pathway. Supported by NCI U10CA180820,180794,180821; UG1CA189859,232760,233290, 233196; Komen Foundation; Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Clinical trial information: NCT00433511.

AbstractThis post hoc analysis of MONARCH 2 and MONARCH 3 assesses the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of abemaciclib in combination with endocrine therapy (ET) in East Asian patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2‐negative (HER2−) advanced breast cancer. MONARCH 2 and MONARCH 3 are global, randomized, double‐blind, phase 3 studies of abemaciclib/placebo + fulvestrant and abemaciclib/placebo + nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (NSAI, anastrozole or letrozole), respectively. The East Asian population comprised 212 (31.7%) of the 669 intent‐to‐treat (ITT) population in the MONARCH 2 trial and 144 (29.2%) of the 493 ITT patients in the MONARCH 3 trial. In the East Asian population, median progression‐free survival (PFS) was significantly prolonged in the abemaciclib arm compared with placebo in both MONARCH 2 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.520; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.362 to 0.747; P < .001; median: 21.2 vs 11.6 months) and MONARCH 3 (HR, 0.326; 95% CI, 0.200 to 0.531, P < .001; median: not reached vs 12.82 months). Diarrhea (MONARCH 2: 90%; MONARCH 3: 88%) and neutropenia (MONARCH 2: 68%; MONARCH 3: 58%) were the most frequent adverse events observed in the East Asian populations. Abemaciclib exposures and PK were similar in East Asians and the non‐East Asian populations of both trials. Abemaciclib in combination with ET in the East Asian populations of MONARCH 2 and MONARCH 3 provided consistent results with the ITT populations, demonstrating improvements in efficacy with generally tolerable safety profiles for patients with HR+, HER2− advanced breast cancer.

Abstract Background Black race is associated with worse outcomes in early breast cancer. We evaluated clinicopathologic characteristics, the 21-gene recurrence score (RS), treatment delivered, and clinical outcomes by race and ethnicity among women who participated in the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment. Methods The association between clinical outcomes and race (White, Black, Asian, other or unknown) and ethnicity (Hispanic vs non-Hispanic) was examined using proportional hazards models. All P values are 2-sided. Results Of 9719 eligible women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-negative breast cancer, there were 8189 (84.3%) Whites, 693 (7.1%) Blacks, 405 (4.2%) Asians, and 432 (4.4%) with other or unknown race. Regarding ethnicity, 889 (9.1%) were Hispanic. There were no substantial differences in RS or ESR1, PGR, or HER2 RNA expression by race or ethnicity. After adjustment for other covariates, compared with White race, Black race was associated with higher distant recurrence rates (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.60, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.07 to 2.41) and worse overall survival in the RS 11-25 cohort (HR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.06 to 2.15) and entire population (HR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.90). Hispanic ethnicity and Asian race were associated with better outcomes. There was no evidence of chemotherapy benefit for any racial or ethnic group in those with a RS of 11-25. Conclusions Black women had worse clinical outcomes despite similar 21-gene assay RS results and comparable systemic therapy in the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment. Similar to Whites, Black women did not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy if the 21-gene RS was 11-25. Further research is required to elucidate the basis for this racial disparity in prognosis.

LBA2 Background: About 6% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients present with Stage IV disease and an intact primary tumor (IPT). Locoregional treatment (LRT) for the IPT is hypothesized to improve survival based on retrospective analyses, but randomized trials have provided conflicting data. We now report the results of E2108, a Phase 3 trial that examined the worth of LRT for the IPT following initial systemic therapy. Methods: Stage IV patients with IPT were registered, treated with optimal systemic therapy (OST) based on patient and tumor characteristics; those who did not progress during 4-8 months of OST were randomized to LRT for the IPT, or no LRT. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), with locoregional disease control as a secondary endpoint. Stratified log rank test and Cox proportional hazard model were used to compare OS between treatment groups. Cumulative incidence of locoregional recurrence/progression was estimated and Gray test was used for treatment group comparisons. The trial was designed to detect an improvement in 3 year OS rate from 30% with OST alone to 49.3% for OST+LRT (power 95%, 1-sided alpha 0.05) with full information expected after 152 deaths; the data monitoring committee recommended data release after 80% of full information. Results: 390 patients were enrolled between 2/8/11 and 7/23/15, and received OST. Of these, 256 eligible patients were randomized to either continued OST alone (N = 131) or OST+LRT (N = 125).There were 121 deaths and 43 locoregional progression events after a median follow up 59 months (range: 0-91). There was no significant difference in OS (3-year OS rate 68.4% in OST+LRT vs. 67.9% OST alone arm, stratified log-rank p = 0.63, HR = 1.09, 90% CI: 0.80, 1.49) or in progression-free survival (p = 0.40). The locoregional recurrence/progression was significantly higher in the OST alone arm (3-year rate 25.6% vs 10.2%, Gray test p = 0.003). Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measured by FACT-B Trial Outcome Index was significantly worse in the OST+LRT arm than OST alone arm at 18 months post randomization (60% completion, Wilcoxon rank sum test p = 0.01), but no difference was observed at time points 6 months (74% completion) or 30 months (56% completion). Conclusions: Early local therapy does not improve survival in patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer and an IPT. Although there was a 2.5-fold higher risk of local disease progression without LRT, LRT of the IPT did not lead to improved HRQOL. Clinical trial information: NCT01242800 .

PURPOSE Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is common during adjuvant chemotherapy and may persist. TAILORx provided a novel opportunity to prospectively assess patient-reported cognitive impairment among women with early breast cancer who were randomly assigned to chemoendocrine therapy (CT+E) versus endocrine therapy alone (E), allowing us to quantify the unique contribution of chemotherapy to CRCI. METHODS Women with a 21-gene recurrence score of 11 to 25 enrolled in TAILORX were randomly assigned to CT+E or E. Cognitive impairment was assessed among a subgroup of 552 evaluable women using the 37-item Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-Cog) questionnaire, administered at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. The FACT-Cog included the 20-item Perceived Cognitive Impairment (PCI) scale, our primary end point. Clinically meaningful changes were defined a priori and linear regression was used to model PCI scores on baseline PCI, treatment, and other factors. RESULTS FACT-Cog PCI scores were significantly lower, indicating more impairment, at 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months compared with baseline for both groups. The magnitude of PCI change scores was greater for CT+E than E at 3 months, the prespecified primary trial end point, and at 6 months, but not at 12, 24, and 36 months. Tests of an interaction between menopausal status and treatment were nonsignificant. CONCLUSION Adjuvant CT+E is associated with significantly greater CRCI compared with E at 3 and 6 months. These differences abated over time, with no significant differences observed at 12 months and beyond. These findings indicate that chemotherapy produces early, but not sustained, cognitive impairment relative to E, providing reassurance to patients and clinicians in whom adjuvant chemotherapy is indicated to reduce recurrence risk.

Abstract Background: Breast cancer incidence and mortality rates are increased in patients’ older than 65 years. However, there are limited reports on age-specific efficacy, safety, and drug tolerability, particularly in elderly patients older than 75 years old. Abemaciclib demonstrated clinically meaningful progression-free survival (PFS) improvement in combination with endocrine therapy (ET) in HR+, HER2- advanced breast cancer patients in the Phase 3 studies, MONARCH 2 and 3. Here we report exploratory subgroup analyses of MONARCH 2 and 3 to provide age-specific outcomes. Methods: In MONARCH 2 (NCT02107703), patients progressing while on prior ET received abemaciclib (or placebo) plus fulvestrant; in MONARCH 3 (NCT02246621), postmenopausal women with no prior systemic therapy for recurrent or metastatic breast cancer received abemaciclib (or placebo) plus letrozole or anastrozole. Exploratory outcome analyses of MONARCH 2 and 3 studies were performed for three age groups (women aged &lt;65, 65-74, and ≥75 years). Using pooled safety data, we performed age-specific subgroup analyses of the most common treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) associated with either ET or ET plus abemaciclib. To assess the impact of age on efficacy, a subgroup analysis of PFS was performed using a Cox model for each trial independently. Results: Pooled safety data were available for 1152 patients treated in MONARCH 2 and 3 trials, including 59.7% pts &lt;65 years, 28.7% pts between 65 and 74 years, and 11.5% pts ≥ 75 years. Of those, 768 women received abemaciclib plus ET and 384 women received placebo plus ET. The most frequent TEAE was diarrhea and the most common Grade ≥3 TEAE was neutropenia. While diarrhea (any grade) occurred with similar incidence in abemaciclib-treated patients across age groups, clinically relevant diarrhea (Grade 2/3) was higher in the elderly (&lt;65, 39.5%; 65-74, 45.2%; ≥75, 55.4%); however, in the ≥75 group, diarrhea (Grade 2/3) incidence was also higher for placebo plus ET (&lt;65, 6.8%; 65-74, 4.5%; ≥75, 16.0%). Similarly, nausea and decreased appetite were moderately higher (by 10-20%) in the 2 abemaciclib-treated elderly subgroups. Fatigue (any grade) was higher in the 2 abemaciclib-treated elderly subgroups (&lt;65, 34.8%; 65-74, 48.4%; ≥75, 51.8%), while no differences were found across the 3 placebo subgroups. In contrast, the rates of Grade 3/4 neutropenia did not differ as a function of age in either the abemaciclib plus ET arm (&lt;65, 25.8%; 65-74, 27.4%; ≥75, 18.1%) or placebo plus ET arm. For efficacy, a consistent PFS benefit was observed with abemaciclib plus ET versus placebo plus ET across all three age-specified subgroups in both studies (Table). Conclusion: Abemaciclib in combination with ET demonstrates a tolerable safety profile and consistent efficacy benefit across all age subgroups examined, supporting the use of this combination in elderly patient populations. Despite the limited number of patients in the ≥75 group with potentially confounding comorbidities, the safety data suggest that patient education and appropriate management of toxicities, including dose adjustments and use of supportive medication for gastrointestinal toxicities, could maximize the benefit of abemaciclib. Table: Age-specified PFS outcomes from MONARCH 2 and 3MONARCH 2MONARCH 3Age GroupAbemaciclib + ETPlacebo + ETHR (95% CI)P-value *Abemaciclib + ETPlacebo + ETHR (95% CI)P-value *Events/NEvents/NEvents/NEvents/N&lt;65140/29192/1330.52 (0.40, 0.68)0.69581/18065/910.48 (0.35, 0.67)0.63465-7461/11442/600.63 (0.43, 0.94)40/10631/540.64 (0.40, 1.02)≥7521/4123/300.62 (0.34, 1.11)17/4212/200.54 (0.26, 1.13)Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; ET, endocrine therapy; HR, hazard ratio; PFS, progression-free survival.*P-value corresponds to the interaction test between age and treatment. Citation Format: Matthew P. Goetz, Meena Okera, Hans Wildiers, Mario Campone, Eva-Maria Grischke, Luis Manso, Valerie Anne Marie Andre, Amy Lee Chong, Belen San Antonio, Masakazu Toi, George W Sledge Jr. Safety and efficacy of abemaciclib plus endocrine therapy (ET) in elderly patients with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+, HER2-) advanced breast cancer: An age-specific subgroup analysis of MONARCH 2 and 3 trials [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-19-10.

9508 Background: Chemotherapy-related amenorrhea (CRA) is associated with infertility and may impact treatment decision-making. We investigated whether anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) levels before chemotherapy predict likelihood of CRA. Methods: 591 patients enrolled on the quality of life substudy of ECOG5103, which randomized breast cancer patients to doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel: 1) alone; 2) with concurrent bevacizumab; or 3) with prolonged bevacizumab. 144 of the 195 women who reported a period <12 months before enrollment consented to serum collection prior to chemotherapy. AMH was measured in 143 with available serum. Participants self-reported menstrual frequency at 12 and 18 months after enrollment. 12-month CRA was defined as no menses for 6 months before the 12-month survey, and 18-month CRA as no menses for 6 months before the 18-month survey. Fisher’s exact test was used to identify associations with CRA. Results: Of the 143, 16 were excluded due to bilateral oophorectomy or initiation of ovarian function suppression within 12 months, and 2 due to missing data at 12 months. In the remaining 125, median age at enrollment was 45 (range 25-55). 103 (82%) had CRA at 12 months, including 68% of patients </= 45 (43/63) and 97% of patients >45 (60/62). Median pre-chemotherapy AMH was 0.11 (range 0.01-8.63). 12-month CRA was more likely in women who received bevacizumab (p<0.01), were >45 (p<0.01), and had AMH </=0.11 (p<0.01) pre-treatment. Hormonal tx was not associated with 12-month CRA (p=0.63). 100 patients were eligible for 18-month CRA analysis: 81 (81%) had CRA, including 63% of patients </= 45 (33/52) and 100% (48/48) of patients >45. 18-month CRA was more likely in women >45 (p<0.01) and with AMH </=0.11 (p<0.01) pre-treatment. Bevacizumab (p=0.15) and hormonal tx (p=0.07) were not statistically significant predictors of 18-month CRA. Conclusions: Pre-chemotherapy AMH predicts risk of CRA at 12 and 18 months, and is a promising biomarker of ovarian reserve in young breast cancer survivors. Longer studies will be needed to ascertain whether lower pre-treatment AMH is associated with increased risk of later infertility. Clinical trial information: NCT00433511.